By Emma Gerard, In Canada, 2.4 million adults over the age of 20 live with diagnosed heart disease.1 Among these adults, as well as the general population, there is a high incidence of heart attack, with men being two times more likely to suffer a heart attack than women.1 According to the Heart and Stroke [...]
By Aleksandar Borisov, Canadian healthcare in the 21st century is at an important crossroads. Over the past 50 years, Canadians’ needs have changed, however, our healthcare system has remained almost unchanged. What was once an effective healthcare system equipped well to deal with acute disease is today struggling in certain aspects and ranked 9th out [...]
By Aleksandar Borisov, When my exercise physiology professor walked into our lecture one day wearing an absurdly large belt buckle with ‘100’ on it, my classmates and I couldn’t hold back a quiet chuckle. None of us suspected that this was a reward for finishing a 100-miles-in-a-day ultramarathon. That remains one of my most [...]
By Johanna Fee, Animal companions are known for the positive impact they have on their owner’s lives, but how can they affect our cardiovascular and overall health? The presence of a pet has the ability to positively influence blood pressure, increase fitness levels, and increase the likelihood of heart attack survival. However, they can [...]
By Kenzie MacDonald, Based on reports from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), the National Institute of Health recommends that adults over the age of 18 get 7-8 hours of sleep a night in order to feel refreshed.1 Although we may be aware or these recommendations, it has been reported that nearly one-third [...]
By Aliza Hirsch, Exercise has the power to confer extensive health benefits. However, at extreme levels, there are those athletes and competitors who are willing to sacrifice their wellbeing for the sake of improved performance. Despite the recent stricter enforcement of drug testing and punishment for drug use amongst competitive athletes, the use of [...]
By Johanna Fee, Orthorexia nervosa is an eating behavior. It is an obsession of eating only foods deemed ‘biologically pure’ or ‘healthy’. It includes severe limitation of diet, coupled with obsessive thoughts about food consumption, and can lead to social isolation. [1] This issue may be augmented by current trends in health and diet such [...]
By Aliza Hirsch, Biological processes that follow a 24-hour cycle are defined as circadian [1] . Specifically in relation to cardiovascular health, previous research has reported a pattern between greater incidence of sudden cardiac death (SCD), which is unexpected death due to loss of heart function, myocardial infarction (MI), also known as a heart [...]
By Kenzie MacDonald, According to Dr. Hans Selye, the ‘Father’ of stress research, stress is a nonspecific reaction of the body to any demand upon it1. Stress can be a positive or beneficial response that facilitates adaptation and stimulates development2. Positive stress is often perceived to be within our coping abilities, short-lived, stimulates motivation [...]
By Andrew Golin, Simply put, the cardiovascular system is a set of connected tubes with varying sizes that circulate blood around the body. Physiological systems can be classified as open or closed. Systems where substances can easily enter or exit, such as the digestive tract, are referred to as open. Conversely, blood is unable [...]