/oss/taxonomy/term/2234/all en /oss/article/medical-you-asked/your-tongue-knows-how-world-feels <p>“Your tongue knows what everything feels like.” This phrase has 27.6M hits <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/discover/your-tongue-knows-how-everything-feels">on TikTok</a>, leaving people with their tongues hanging out and brows furrowed. Of course, we know the texture of our morning cereal and metal spoons. But as you imagine touching your tongue to your computer mouse, pillowcase, and couch cushions, why is it that your tongue tells you these odd textures are familiar too?</p> Fri, 11 Aug 2023 15:33:59 +0000 Cat Wang, B.Sc. 9599 at /oss /oss/article/health-and-nutrition-you-asked/it-true-pine-nuts-can-cause-lasting-taste-disturbance <p>In 2001, a Belgian physician experienced two episodes of bitter, metallic taste that lasted for several days and noted that both had occurred after he had eaten pine nuts. He mentioned this to a colleague who was intrigued enough to look into the matter further and learned that six similar cases had been recently reported to the Belgian Poison Control Center. This resulted in the publication of a case report in the European Journal of Emergency Medicine, albeit it was hardly an emergency. As stated in the paper, an analysis of the nuts did not reveal any mould or pesticide contamination.</p> Fri, 17 Dec 2021 22:19:38 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8952 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19-health/loss-smell-and-covid-19-80-those-infected-sars-cov-2-virus-report-losing-their-sense-smell <hr /> <p class="note"><strong>Take-home message:</strong><br /> -30 to 80% of people with COVID-19 report loss of smell, known as anosmia.<br /> -The likely targets of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are supporting cells in the nose that support growth of the nerve cells that allow us to smell<br /> -Anosmia treatments being studied include: Retraining the brain to smell, calming nasal inflammation and finding ways to regrow damaged nasal cells</p> Wed, 14 Apr 2021 21:44:10 +0000 Gaia Remerowski, MS, Science Journalism 8700 at /oss /oss/article/health/covid-science-express-vanished-sense-smell-viral-origins-and-vaccines <p>A weekly explanation of the emerging science behind COVID-19 and its infectious agent, SARS-CoV-2.</p> <p><b>Loss of smell and taste could be a symptom of COVID-19 but not a very specific one</b></p> Fri, 27 Mar 2020 14:56:45 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8199 at /oss /oss/article/health-nutrition/will-gymnema-curb-your-sweet-sweet-cravings <p>It would have been easy to dismiss the claim out of hand by playing armchair skeptic, but I decided instead to stuff the lawn clippings in my mouth. It really did look like someone had been chasing after lawn mowers to resell the leftovers for a profit, and though I have never tasted grass clippings, I can imagine what I was sampling wasn’t a million miles away.  </p> Tue, 20 Aug 2019 18:07:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 7876 at /oss /oss/article/you-asked/why-can-i-taste-saline-when-its-injected-my-iv <p>Someone recently asked me if I had ever heard a patient complain that they could taste saline and medications when injected into their IV. Truth is, I had never heard of this before, but apparently it is quite common for patients to complain of a funny taste in their mouth when their IV lines are flushed with pre-prepared syringes of saline in order to keep them open and avoid clotting.</p> Tue, 18 Sep 2018 15:24:30 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 7360 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know/science-says-scotch-rocks-tastes-better-straight <p><span>Everyone knows that oil floats on water. That’s because oil is nonpolar, and water is polar. These terms describe the arrangement of charges in their structure: nonpolar means a molecule has no net charge, polar means it does. The polarity of a molecule influences the way it interacts with other molecules.  We tend to think of two ‘like’ substances, be they nonpolar like two different oils, or polar like water and vinegar, as mixing completely, but that’s not entirely true in all cases.</span></p> Thu, 05 Jul 2018 18:08:22 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 7162 at /oss /oss/article/quackery/food-babe-has-no-idea-how-physiology-works <p><span>Our good friend the Food Babe has published an interesting piece of pseudoscience writing entitled ‘</span><a href="https://foodbabe.com/natural-flavors-really-bad-must-watch/">Are Natural Flavors Really That Bad? (MUST WATCH)</a><span>’. If you’re looking for the quick answer to this superfluous, click-bait title, let me tell you that it’s no: natural flavours are perfectly safe and healthy. But if you’re looking for an explanation of how taste actually works (and why her claims about natural flavours are utter nonsense), then please read on!</span></p> Tue, 20 Feb 2018 16:42:03 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 6927 at /oss /oss/article/health-general-science/science-taste-why-are-people-picky-eaters <p><span>Everyone has come into contact with a picky eater. And almost everyone has tried to coax these picky eaters into getting them to try something new. “How do you know you won’t like it if you’ve never tried it?” or “trust me, you’re going to love it.” And yet, often times, these picky eaters won’t budge. (And for some reason, we may even get offended that we were unsuccessful in converting their taste buds). So why is it that some people are picky eaters while others will quite gladly eat anything?</span></p> Tue, 25 Jul 2017 17:50:21 +0000 Cassandra Lee, OSS Intern 2583 at /oss