/oss/taxonomy/term/260/all en /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/mindfulness-meditation-often-fails-scientific-test <p>Mindfulness meditation is primed to save all of us from anxiety and depression, it would seem. It’s also big business: in 2015, this growing industry made <a href="https://fortune.com/2016/03/12/meditation-mindfulness-apps/">nearly USD 1 billion</a>. The money comes from speaking engagements, workshops, books, as well as apps meant to guide you through the process. The popular Headspace app claims <a href="https://www.headspace.com/">70 million downloads</a>; the #1 meditation app, Calm, <a href="https://www.calm.com/blog/about">over 150 million</a>!</p> Fri, 19 Jan 2024 14:38:41 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9808 at /oss /oss/article/medical/can-psychedelic-drugs-help-depression <hr /> <p><em>This article was originally posted in the</em> <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/christopher-labos-can-psychedelic-drugs-help-with-depression"><em>Montreal Gazette.</em></a></p> Fri, 29 Sep 2023 10:00:00 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 9658 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-technology/brain-zapping-may-probably-appear-be-doing-something <p>Shocking the brain with electricity may bring to mind electroconvulsive therapy or James Whale’s seminal black-and-white adaptation of <i>Frankenstein</i>. But given that our brain cells use electricity to allow us to think, speak, and move, might there not be some way to tweak our brain’s electricity to solve our many health problems?</p> Fri, 21 Jul 2023 15:01:41 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9572 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking/saffron-teenage-moodiness-evidence-immature <p>“Clinically proven” is a very malleable term. What exactly does it mean for an intervention to have been clinically proven to work? In the world of dietary supplements, the veracity of this phrase very much exists in the eye of the beholder.</p> Fri, 19 May 2023 15:02:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9514 at /oss /oss/article/health/heart-attacks-and-depression <p>A little-known fact in the field of cardiology is that the depression rate among patients after a heart attack is quite high. Rates of major depressive disorder have varied between 15% and 25% in cardiac patients and depression has been shown to be a significant <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/408863">predictor of mortality</a>. So, on the one hand, treating depression in cardiac patients should be an obvious proposition.</p> Tue, 03 Mar 2020 19:16:58 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 8164 at /oss /oss/article/health-history/its-time-let-five-stages-grief-die <p>Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance.</p> <p>This group of terms has become so ingrained in our cultural consciousness that almost anyone could tell you what they are: the five stages of grief.</p> <p>Introduced to the world in the 1969 book <i>On Death and Dying </i>by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, the Kübler-Ross model (sometimes called the DABDA model) surmises that there are sequential stages of various emotions that a patient goes through when diagnosed with a terminal illness, starting with denial and ending with acceptance.</p> Fri, 31 May 2019 15:54:47 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 7786 at /oss /oss/article/health-videos/cracked-science-27-tapping-emotional-freedom-technique <p><div class="media-youtube-video media-element file-default media-youtube-1"> <iframe class="media-youtube-player" id="media-youtube-hrdtf-04k5m" width="640" height="390" title="Tapping Into Emotional Freedom Technique (CS27)" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/HRdTF_04K5M?wmode=opaque&controls=&enablejsapi=1&modestbranding=1&playerapiid=media-youtube-hrdtf-04k5m&origin=https%3A//www.mcgill.ca&rel=0" name="Tapping Into Emotional Freedom Technique (CS27)" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>Video of Tapping Into Emotional Freedom Technique (CS27)</iframe> </div> </p> Fri, 15 Feb 2019 17:21:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry, MSc 7591 at /oss /oss/article/health-videos/cracked-science-26-psychedelic-renaissance <p><div class="media-youtube-video media-element file-default media-youtube-2"> <iframe class="media-youtube-player" id="media-youtube-dlydmbxadoo" width="640" height="390" title="The Psychedelic Renaissance (CS26)" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/dlYDMbxAdoo?wmode=opaque&controls=&enablejsapi=1&modestbranding=1&playerapiid=media-youtube-dlydmbxadoo&origin=https%3A//www.mcgill.ca&rel=0" name="The Psychedelic Renaissance (CS26)" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>Video of The Psychedelic Renaissance (CS26)</iframe> </div> </p> Thu, 31 Jan 2019 17:11:13 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 7566 at /oss /oss/article/health-and-nutrition-quackery/aromatherapy-fragrant-medicine-or-stinky-pseudoscience <p>You may believe that essential oils possess curative powers. Many websites praise the numerous healing properties of these concentrated smelly compounds, from the immune-boosting potential of oregano to the stress-reducing scent of sweet orange oil. These same websites will often provide you with a convenient way of purchasing these elixirs, of course. Why simply inform when you can sell as well?</p> Thu, 28 Sep 2017 14:18:23 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 2648 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know/medical-benefits-massage <p>A<a href="http://www.anatomyfacts.com/Research/Massage%20Journal%20Club/January07/Moyer.pdf"> 2004 paper</a> reviewed the research on massage therapy available at the time and found some interesting things. After one massage session, massage clients show reduced heart rates, blood pressures, cortisol levels (the main stress hormone) and anxiety, and after several sessions, clients showed remarkable drops in depression levels, on par with the positive effects of psychotherapy.</p> Tue, 26 Sep 2017 19:36:34 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 2646 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know-health-general-science/why-do-we-yawn-when-we-exercise <p>Am I the only one who tries to ‘swallow my head’ as my Nana used to say while exercising? For a while, I thought so! But a Google search told me I'm not alone. Many people suffer from constant yawning when they are physically active. So why do we yawn when we exercise? Well, why do we yawn at all?</p> Thu, 17 Aug 2017 15:53:55 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 2603 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know-history/7-was-originally-antidepressant <p><span>When 7 Up was originally placed on the market (In 1929), it was named Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda- a much less catchy, though more descriptive name. The ‘lithiated’ in the name came from the soda’s ingredient lithium citrate, a compound used to treat patients with mental health problems like bipolar disorder, depression or mania. </span></p> Sat, 17 Jun 2017 16:08:49 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 2550 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know-health/st-johns-wort-and-depression <p>The hypericum herb, or St John’s wort as it is commonly referred to, is widely used for the treatment of mild depression. In fact, in Germany it outsells the synthetic drug Prozac. It has been shown to be effective and adverse effects do not seem to be a problem. However, it does interfere with the disposition of other drugs. In particular, it will generally reduce the activity of certain other drugs which may lead to a failure of treatment.</p> Tue, 30 May 2017 17:05:38 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD and Ada McVean OSS Intern 2499 at /oss /oss/article/health-you-asked/depression-and-soft-drinks <p>There’s some bitter news about sweet pop! But you have to take it with a grain of salt. Beginning in 1995, researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health in the U.S. had more than 250,000 adults between the ages of 50 to 71 fill out questionnaires about the kinds of drinks they consumed.Ten years later they asked the participants whether they had been diagnosed with depression since the year 2000. The participants reported a total of 11,311 depression diagnoses.</p> Wed, 16 Jan 2013 18:13:26 +0000 OSS 1857 at /oss /oss/article/depressed-about-depression-report <p>One of my pet peeves is the media jumping on a scientific study and making far more of it than what the study’s results actually demonstrate. The one that caught my eye now was the headline: “Feeling depressed? Eat yogurt rich in lactobacillus.” I am all for research into probiotics, the bacteria in our gut that may have a variety of beneficial effects on health. Perhaps even on relieving some symptoms of depression. However, the study carried out at the University of Virginia that generated the seductive headline certainly did not demonstrate that eating yogurt can alleviate depression.</p> Tue, 14 Mar 2017 14:02:41 +0000 Dr. Joe Schwarcz 1543 at /oss