Doctor Discredited

            I read a pretty disturbing article in the newspaper today called “Doctors, squeal on thyselves”. It was very interesting, and really put things into perspective for me.

This article is about a doctor named Dr. Charles Smith who was thought to be one of Canada’s leading experts in pediatric forensic pathology. Whenever a case needed to be solved regarding an unnatural or suspicious death of a child, Smith was the one called to inspect the body, obtain all essential medical information and evidence, and show his findings in the court of law. Recently, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario revoked his license to practice medicine, and made him pay almost $4000 to cover the costs of his hearing, when they discovered that Smith had been sloppy in his work and had failed to adequately investigate several cases. It was found out that Dr. Charles Smith had also greatly exaggerated his credentials, despite his lack of forensic training, in order to cover up his sloppy examining and insufficient evidence and organization, which in many instances, lead to a false conclusion of the case. Because of these flaws, families were destroyed, as parents were wrongly accused of killing their children, resulting in them going to jail, and people were found to be child killers and sex offenders, when they had faced completely false accusations. Smith’s flawed investigations tore families apart and wrongfully accused people of horrific actions in over 20 cases.

I found this article extremely upsetting, because of the fact that someone so illegitimately qualified in the medical field had the power to destroy so many innocent people’s lives. This also brings up an important issue of doctors and their qualification. This case shows that, at least for this specific case, other doctors were not able to publicly report the incompetency of their colleagues or the unacceptable level of care that their colleagues were putting into their work. If people are not willing to stand up and report the truth when these accused families need it the most, then they are not qualified to be practicing medicine. I think because of the accepted presumption that all doctors have the professional qualification to practice, it can cause people to have a false sense of security and cause a lack of questioning of the public in regards to the legitimacy of evidence for a specific case.

Sciences and medical sciences are wonderful tools that can be used to find the answers to many of the world’s important issues, but it is up to the honour and integrity of people to allow for science to help out. These critical failures made by Dr. Charles Smith were not critical failures of science itself, but of the person failing to adequately and truthfully perform his job. It is because of the inherent flaws of people, and not because of the inherent flaws of science, that something as horrible as this was able to happen.

If anyone if interested in reading this article, here is a link: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/doctors-squeal-on-thyselves-115354924.html.

Thank you!

Homosexuality and Science

            I have been recently working a lot on a project for English class in which I am talking about the portrayal of homosexuality in the media, and more specifically, the stereotypes, misconceptions, and discrimination that is associated with this portrayal. Because of this, I thought it would be interesting to learn about homosexuality from a scientific perspective.

            I think it would be fair to say that homosexuality is a topic of strong opinion, for me included. I am very passionate and opinionated in regards to this subject. So many areas of media tell us that homosexuality is wrong and only show a generalized and limited viewpoint of how a gay person is or should be. Because the media is so prominent in society in this day and age, our beliefs can get influenced and even altered to the point where we no longer know how we feel about a subject; instead, we know how people think we should feel about a subject. Most people don’t realize how common homosexuality is, as 10% of the overall population is homosexual. Therefore, any discrimination against homosexual males or females is not just going against gay rights, but it is going against a person’s rights as a human being as well.

There are many reasons for which homosexual people are discriminated against, a large one being religion. There are many literal interpretations of religious writings that seem to make people think that homosexuality is wrong or sinful. Discrimination against an entire group of people, just because they were born a certain way, is not only offensive, but is also completely ridiculous.

I think it is important to take a look at homosexuality from a scientific viewpoint. One of the most common misconceptions about homosexuality is that many people believe homosexuality to be a choice. It has been shown through studies and polls that homosexual people are more likely to be left-handed, to be the youngest of multiple brothers, and to have their hair naturally turn in a clockwise direction. Because of these common traits among gay people, the idea is becoming better accepted that homosexuality has to do with genes and inborn traits, and not with decisions made by the person later in life. In the US, until 2007, a poll showed that the majority of Americans believes homosexuality to be a choice that could be changed. It was only just three years ago that, for the first time, the majority believed homosexuality to be an inborn characteristic. It is shown through scientific research that homosexuality has more to do with genes than does which hand you write with. There is also biological evidence that a percentage of animals show homosexual activity. The American Medical Association, The American Psychiatric Association, The American Psychological Association, The American Psychoanalytical Association, The American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Association of Social Workers all support that idea that homosexuality is not a mental illness, and is not a personal decision.

No matter how or why, homosexuality IS present in our society, and not accepting this fact is just ignorance, in my opinion. Homosexuality is neither a lifestyle nor a personal choice, it is innate and unchangeable. Here is a fantastic animated video I found from the movie “The Bible Tells Me So” that talks about homosexuality not being a choice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbpu6ne5-cQ&feature=related

Ecotourism in Mexico

I just got back from my vacation in Mexico yesterday, so I thought I’d write about the important idea of ecotourism, particularly in Mexico.

Ecotourism is the practice of touring natural habitats in a manner meant to minimize ecological impact. It involves having an organization’s activities increase environmental awareness or help raise money for certain conservation programs. The main goal of ecotourism is to conserve the biological and cultural diversity of the area, and to promote biodiversity from generating money and business opportunities in ecotourism-related systems.

Mexico has developed a great ability to properly regulate its environment, and has created many successful environmental programs; the development and enforcement of these environmental programs in Mexico is expected to improve with the modernization the country’s economy. Because of the many environmental (and non-governmental) organizations that they are a part of, the country is showing itself to be growing rapidly in their environmental awareness. Alltournative is an initiator in ecotourism in the State of Quintana Roo, Mexico, and has founded many sustainable development ecotourist projects that have benefited many aspects of development, including economic, social, and cultural, of the Mayan communities. Alltournative ecotourism projects increase the income of and improve the quality of life of the Mayan communities, while preserving their culture, customs, and natural environment. Some of these Mayan groups are Pac-Chen, Tres-Reyes, Rancho San Felipe, and Katenah.

A specific hotel that is known as a model representative of sustainable tourism in Mexico, is Hacienda Tres Rios Resort. This hotel rose above the environmental regulations, developing and installing ecologically friendly equipment and implementing practices that significantly reduce utility consumption, save energy, and support protection of wildlife and reforesting projects with their involvement in plant and wildlife management programs.

To use a specific example of a preservation technique, it is becoming more and more common that locations in Mexico only allow a certain sun tan lotion to be used in order to protect many elements of the natural environment. This sun tan lotion is biodegradable, breaking down naturally in the environment, and lacking the ingredients that are harmful to the underwater coral reefs. It is the only sun tan lotion permitted in many marine parks in Mexico, including Xel-Ha and Xcaret in the Mayan Riviera, both of which were very nearby the hotel I stayed in, and one of which I have been to previously. Some of the harmful ingredients in sunscreens are PABA, octinoxate, oxybenzone, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor, and butylparaben. These ingredients are known to settle on corals and other marine life, essentially suffocating them. This creates extensive damage to the marine environment and is good reason for implementation of a plan that can stop this from happening before it destroys the world’s coral. 

I think tourism in an ecological manner is extremely important in preserving the beautiful and natural environment of many places around the world. Recently, travelers’ interests in environment preservation has increased environmentally responsible tourism, and the tourism industry in general. I strongly believe in the importance of preserving a culture and its customs, as well as protecting the elements of nature and increasing the public’s awareness of conservation techniques.

Here is a link to a more detailed explanation of the negative effects certain sunscreens have on the environment: http://www.eturbonews.com/1414/tourist-sunscreen-‘killing-coral-reefs’

The Freezing Point Depression

In my Current Topics class recently, we have been preparing a demonstration of a scientific topic and a lab activity that can go along with it. My group’s topic is the freezing point depression. It may not sound that complicated, and it is actually is rather simple, although it took much discussion, arguing, and questioning to figure out exactly how the freezing point depression works. This has been a topic of interest for my group over the past couple of weeks and turned out to be quite fascinating.

Depressing the freezing point or melting point of a substance, since the temperature below which a substance freezes and above which a substance melts is the same, simply refers to the process of lowering the temperature at which a solid can melt into a liquid. This can be done with the addition of salt. We found a fun experiment to do, which was the “Ice Cream Lab”, which was supposed to demonstrate the freezing point depression. Although it took us a while to figure out how it was being exemplified in the experiment, eventually we came to a conclusion. Basically, the ice cream ingredients are put in a bag that is placed inside a larger bag containing a salt and ice mixture. The salt allows the ice to remain at its normal temperature (below 0°C), but melt into its liquid form. This salt and ice brine that surrounds the ice cream ingredients allows the cream to freeze properly and uniformly, therefore, helping in the process of making homemade ice cream.

Even though we liked this lab activity, we thought that it was very important to see if and how this principle could relate to the real world and be applied to our daily lives. We researched and discovered that salt is put on roads in the winter season for the same purpose, and based on the same principle. Since Winnipeg is very cold, snowy, and icy, for at least 4 months of the year, the use of salt on the roads in very significant to daily life in the city. When the salt is put on the ice in winter, it lowers the melting point of the ice, so that the ice is able to melt into liquid water and run off the roads. Because the roads in Winnipeg get so icy and slippery in the winter and create dangerous driving conditions, the principle of the freezing point depression is essential for keeping the people out of hazardous situations.

I think asking and being critical of why something is happening is important to growing and understanding how the world works. We decided that in order to continue with this lab, we needed to understand why salt was able to depress the freezing point of ice. The answer has to do with the structure of water at a molecular level. Water is made up of H₂O molecules, and the positively charged hydrogen atoms of the water molecules are attracted to the negatively charged oxygen atoms of other water molecules, in a process called hydrogen bonding. In liquid water, because there is more heat energy, the molecules are able to move faster and flow past each other more easily. Similarly, as the temperature of water decreases, the rate of movement of the H₂O molecules is slowed down. Because of this reduction in speed of the moving molecules, the positive hydrogen atoms and negative oxygen atoms bond more firmly to one another and create a crystallized structure (ice). In simpler words, when salt is added to ice water, the salt particles disrupt the bonding process of the water molecules, allowing the substance to remain in liquid form at a temperature where it would normally be a solid. Because of the addition of salt, the molecules that would normally attract each other and bond firmly together at temperatures below 0°C, are interrupted in the process, decreasing the number of bonds formed and therefore, keeping the liquid from entering into a solid state.

I hope you learned something new about how salt can be used to depress the melting point or freezing point of a substance. If you are looking for an experiment that deals with the freezing point depression, an ice cream lab is a fun way to learn about it! Here is a link to one possible ice cream lab you could perform to become more knowledgeable on the subject and see the freezing point depression in action: http://www2.waterforduhs.k12.wi.us/staffweb/smith/Nancy/chemistry/ice%20cream%20lab.htm

Thank you.

Gender Stereotypes: Effect on Performance?

I read an article that talked about gender stereotyping and the effects that it can have on people, particularly women. It is scientifically proven that women tend not to score as high as men on standard tests in some areas of science or mathematics. Women are also under-represented in science related professions, such as computer science and engineering.

Gender stereotyping, for example, “women are not good in science”, may actually interfere with the ability of women to perform well in science related examinations. For example, women might fear that the gender stereotype could be valid, and that it could possibly apply to them. This kind of negative thinking and the feeling of pressure associated with it could actually cause women to perform worse on science or math related tests.

This study that was described in the article used a psychological intervention called “values affirmation” to try to reduce the achievement gap between men and women in a college physics class. The values affirmation intervention involved having the students write about the importance of personally important values, such as friends and family, for fifteen minutes on two occasions during the course. The idea behind the intervention is that it helps women to more firmly establish a perception of personal integrity and worth, which in turn provides them with greater internal strength to cope effectively, including coping more effectively with the stresses of the course examination. The authors of the study found that the values affirmation intervention significantly improved the course performance of women who expressed a strong belief in the gender stereotype that men will do better in physics than women.

The remarkable thing about the study is that a very brief and pretty simple intervention, which was not even directly related to the course material, was able to a have a significant effect on women’s exam performance and subject mastery in physics. The results of the study also suggest that gender differences in performance in some science areas may reflect students’ expectations rather than their true underlying abilities.

I found this article and study particularly interesting because I am a strong believer in gender equality and breaking down stereotypes and generalizations. I find it fascinating that knowing how people think you will perform on an examination can affect the way your mind works, and the way in which you actually perform. I have always been an advocate for the equality of women and think stereotypes are not only offensive, but usually very inaccurate. Saying and believing things like “women are not as good at science and math” have actually been shown in this study to affect women’s performances, because they do not have full confidence in themselves that they can perform just as well as the men. I strongly believe that stereotyping is not only insulting and untrue for the most part, but that it actually can damage the way a person feels about themselves, and cause them to perform in the way they are expected to perform, rather than to the best of their ability.

The article is called “Reducing the Gender Achievement Gap in College Science: A Classroom Study of Values Affirmation”, and can be found at http://www.sciencemag.org.

Thank you!

Vaccinations: A Matter of Responsibility?

There has been a lot in the news lately about the H1N1 flu vaccines which are now combined with the seasonal flu vaccine.

            According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, any number of people between two and eight thousand die each year in Canada from the seasonal flu virus alone. Last year, less than half of the population was immunized for the seasonal flu virus, and the same goes for the H1N1 virus; but, health officials are hoping that combining the two influenza vaccinations will result in much larger turnout for immunizations this year. Many people may have been scared away from the vaccination due to a rare neurological disorder that some feared was associated with the H1N1 virus vaccine, called Guillian Barré Syndrome, which causes paralysis.

There has also been much talk about a new way for the vaccine to be taken. In Canada, there is now the option of FluMist, which is the same vaccination in the form of a nasal spray. This could be an effective alternative for people who do not want to get a needle, but who want to be vaccinated. FluMist has recently been approved by Health Canada, after being available in the United States for the past seven years. The vaccine is free from preservatives, which eliminates some of the public concern and suspicion, and is also latex free so is not a problem for those with latex allergies. The most common side effect is nasal congestion, but in the United States, FluMist has been shown to be a safe and effective vaccine. This new form of vaccination is available in Canada from anyone between the ages of two and fifty nine years old.

Reading some of this information really made me wonder why so few people get immunized. Is it because of a fear of complications? That is a likely possibility, although the risk of having severe side effects as a result of the vaccination is one in a million, whereas, the risk of getting very sick from the flu itself is over one in five. Is it because so many people do not like needles? This is another popular fear, but should not be a problem anymore with the FluMist option. Is it because people think that they will not get the virus, maybe because they are not in the highest risk group? This brings up another issue which is related to an interesting article I read. It was talking about our responsibilities as humans to get the vaccination, not only for ourselves, but so that others are protected against the influenza. It went on to say that it was selfish to not get vaccinated because of the people that may be negatively affected as a result. I agree that it would be ideal to be immunized and, in doing so, prevent others from being affected by the flu, but I tend to lean towards the importance of personal choice, and think everyone should be able to decide for themselves if they want to get vaccinated.

Here is the article that I read which talked about the importance of getting vaccinated to protect yourself and the people around you: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/refusing-to-get-vaccinated-is-selfish/article1339120/.

What do you think? Is it the responsibility of people to get the vaccine in order to prevent its spreading to others who may be negatively affected as a result? And, is it selfish if you do not get immunized? Thank you!

Is Alcohol Worse Than Crack Cocaine?

I recently read this article in the Winnipeg Free Press entitled “Alcohol worse than crack”. It talked about a new British study that assessed how destructive many substances, including alcohol, cocaine, heroin, crystal meth, LSD, ecstasy, and marijuana were to the individual and to society. Some of the criteria that the rankings of these substances were based on were how addictive it is and the damage it can cause to the human body, as well as many other criteria, including damage to the environment and to families around the world. The study concluded that heroine, crack cocaine, and crystal meth, were the most lethal to individuals, but that alcohol is overall more damaging, as it is much more widely used and causes not only harm to the individual, but to those around them as well. It also showed that drugs like marijuana, ecstasy, and LSD were much less harmful to the society as a whole. The study goes on to conclude that alcohol is connected to higher death rates and crime rates than any other drugs, and is therefore “worse” or more “dangerous” than these other lethal drugs.

I am fully aware of all the damage alcohol can cause to the organs of the human body and the negative social effects it can have; however, I feel as though the article’s title is misleading. Yes, I agree that this particular study showed that OVERALL, alcohol causes a larger number of consequences when looking at the effects on society rather than the individual; but, I think this article may be the cause of even more negative consequences. The majority of people do not think alcohol is all that bad, as it is a widely accepted part of our society. Even in the article it says that “alcohol is too embedded in our culture and it won’t go away”. If one of these people in the majority of the population read this article, that basically – as the title reads – says that it is worse to drink alcohol than to take illegal drugs like crack cocaine and crystal meth, they will be inclined to think that if alcohol is okay, and alcohol is WORSE than crack, then crack is okay too. In this way, I think it is important to distinguish the difference between the effects a substance can have on the individual and the effects a substance can have on society, instead of just making a general and, in my opinion, misleading statement, like “alcohol is worse than crack”.

While it is true that alcohol can cause many negative affects on not only the body of the individual, but on society as well (for example, traffic accidents and deaths related to driving while intoxicated), it IS possible to drink alcohol at a safe and responsible level; whereas, it is NOT possible to consume illegal drugs like crack cocaine and crystal meth at a safe and responsible level.

Here is the article that I read in the newspaper, called “Alcohol worse than crack”: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/alcohol-worse-than-crack-106469568.html. What are your thoughts on this article? Does the article make a fair statement in comparing the negative effects of alcohol and other drugs?