/oss/taxonomy/term/735/all en /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking/you-wont-die-touching-fentanyl <p>On the fictional cop show <i>Blue Bloods, </i>in the appropriately titled episode “Pain Killers,” detective Maria Baez picks up a tray containing drug paraphernalia and a white powder and is soon <a href="https://youtu.be/RMpCGD7b_H4?si=fEWBmiHBd8s7nC8w&t=374">seen on a gurney</a>, fighting for her life, as a healthcare worker proclaims, “Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine.</p> Fri, 13 Oct 2023 10:00:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9694 at /oss /oss/article/nutrition-you-asked/it-true-you-cannot-eat-polar-bear-liver <p>You could eat it. If you are lucky, you would live to regret it. That's because the liver could be lethal! You could overdose on retinol!</p> Wed, 06 Oct 2021 20:51:30 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8892 at /oss /oss/article/health-nutrition-you-asked/what-guarana <p>The Amazon is a dangerous place, with jaguars, anacondas and piranhas in constant search for their next meal, but you would not have anything to fear from guarana. It isn’t a predator, it’s a woody vine that climbs through the trees, growing up to 30 feet long. It produces bright red berries that split open when ripe, revealing a shiny black seed partially embedded in a thin white pulp. From a distance, the split berries look disturbingly like eyes staring down from the leafy canopy. The name “guarana” reflects this connection, deriving from the native words “guara” for “human,” and “na” fo</p> Thu, 30 Sep 2021 18:00:48 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8883 at /oss /oss/article/controversial-science-health-news-quirky-science-supplements/n-acetylcysteine-biochemical-triumph <p>When a diagnosis is made of acetaminophen overdose in an emergency room, out comes the N-acetylcysteine (NAC). This is not a rare occurrence because acetaminophen is a widely used pain killer and often people think that if a little is good, more must be better. It isn’t. Especially when combined with alcohol. That’s not a rare occurrence either. Drink, get a headache, take a pill.</p> Fri, 08 Nov 2013 03:10:39 +0000 Alexandra Pires-Ménard, OSS Intern 2028 at /oss /oss/article/health-you-asked/can-you-overdose-folic-acid <p>Vitamins have a great public image. Even the term itself derives from the Latin “vita,” meaning life. And indeed vitamins are essential to life. Our bodies cannot make these nutrients, so we must get them from our diet. But just because a little is good, more is not necessarily better. Folic acid, one of the B vitamins is a case in point. It plays a role in a number of biochemical reactions, including the production of DNA. Each time our cells multiply, they need to produce more DNA. And life of course depends on the multiplication of cells. Unfortunately, so does cancer.</p> Fri, 16 Nov 2012 03:11:51 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1790 at /oss