Shloka Jetha is a woman who has always been on the move. After growing up in seven countries, the 23-year old has finally settled in Toronto and is pursuing her dream of working with at-risk youth. Part of what appealed to her about the new Professional Addiction Studies program at McMaster Continuing Education is that it’s online, which means she can set her own schedule and study on-the-go when she’s away from home.
But of course the biggest draw is the way Jetha feels the program will complement and expand upon what she learned in her McMaster degree in sociology, as well as what she is currently learning in a Child and Youth Care program at another school. With the goal of someday working in a clinical setting like the Sick Kids Centre for Brain and Mental Health, Jetha believes the more practical information she has about addiction and mental health, the better.
“I’m learning a lot in my current Child and Youth program,” Jetha enthuses, “but for me there is a bit of a knowledge gap that the McMaster Professional Addiction Studies program will help to close. It’s an incredibly complex field, every situation is new, and you need to be able read between the lines and understand the difference between what a troubled kid is saying and what’s actually going on in their life.”
Jetha believes that having the rich background knowledge the Professional Addiction Studies program will provide, and being able to link that information to her work in the field, will help her excel faster. Most importantly, she feels it will make her better and more effective at helping and healing kids in crisis.
“I’m specifically looking forward to gaining more knowledge about pharmacology, but also about other things as it’s difficult to learn on the job,” Jetha says. “I can learn a tremendous amount from the kids I work with, and that’s invaluable experience, but coming to them with a deeper knowledge base will allow me to talk with them about drugs and alcohol in a way I otherwise couldn’t.”
Jetha has been fortunate not to be personally touched by addiction, but has lost friends and people in her community from overdose. She is also familiar with the impact of this complex issue through the volunteer work she has done.
Even though this is an incredibly demanding career path, it’s one Jetha is proud and honoured to walk. She feels the good outweighs the bad and is determined to continue learning and helping as much as she can. The Professional Addiction Studies program at McMaster Continuing Education is uniquely designed to help her achieve that goal.
Applications for Spring term are open until April 29, 2019. Learn more at mcmastercce.ca/addiction-studies-program
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By: Abirami Sudharshan
In October 2018, the McMaster faculty of health sciences launched the “Centre for Metabolism, Obesity and Diabetes Research,” an initiative ten years in the making.
Since then, the centre has been working to engineer novel clinical applications in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of adult and juvenile metabolic disease.
According to the agenda from the Oct. 18 McMaster board of governors meeting, 25 per cent of adults in Canada and around the world are affected by obesity, type two diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Every year, the Canadian health care system incurs more than $30 billion per year in incurred related costs.
The founding of the MODR centre, which was approved by the senate in April 2018, allows for the accelerated progression of pre-clinical to human research.
This is largely made possible through the MODR’s collaborative and multidisciplinary approach to metabolic research, according to a report in the Oct. 18 board of governors agenda.
“The MODR brings together a rich and diverse group of researchers from across McMaster University… with expertise ranging from cellular metabolism, physiology, clinical epidemiology, population health, pediatrics, adult medicine and clinical trials… who share a passion for collaborating and sharing insights and perspectives,” said Hertzel Gerstein, the centre’s senior advisor at the McMaster faculty of medicine.
Co-directors Katherine Morrison and Gregory Steinberg are studying these diseases at the clinical and cellular level, respectively.
Under their guidance, the centre is set to flourish as a world expert in determining the biological drivers behind metabolism disruption, understanding their mechanics and translating this knowledge into feasible, effective and clinical solutions.
“Ten years from now, we hope to have made a significant impact on the lives of people living with metabolic diseases by having developed new therapies,” said Steinberg.
The MODR is currently facilitating a number of metabolism-related research projects.
One project Steinberg and Morrison are leading is the “Gene Environment Team on Brown/Beige Adipose Tissue” project, which aims to understand the underlying causes of obesity, type two diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
According to the project description, brown adipose tissue is essentially the body’s furnace, burning sugar and fat in the body.
“In individuals with obesity or T2D the ability to switch on BAT is compromised, but the reasons for this are not well understood,” reads a statement on the MODR’s website. “The GET_BAT team is examining how agricultural and food processing practices may regulate BAT metabolic activity, directly, or indirectly by altering the gut microbiome.”
The results from these studies are expected to help the researchers develop strategies to increase BAT activity and treat and prevent metabolic disease.
Another project underway, the “Baby & Mi and Baby & Pre-Mi Studies,” is investigating the impact of gut bacteria on long-term health.
In particular, the study will be one of the first in North America to explore factors that may alter the gut bacteria picked up in the first three years of life.
In another study, Steinberg will be testing new medicines that impact proteins in the liver and adipose tissue in effort to treat type two diabetes.
More information about the research being conducted at the MODR can be found at https://healthsci.mcmaster.ca/metabolism-research.
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If you browsed through social media on Jan. 30, chances are you saw #BellLetsTalk circulating around. Political leaders, celebrities, corporations and even McMaster University shared the hashtag in support of “ending the stigma” around mental illness.
Success and meaning can be found along many paths, but the paths can be rough and winding. | @McMasterSWC #BrighterWorld #BellLetsTalk https://t.co/fzBIjSte6G
— McMaster University (@McMasterU) January 30, 2019
But like #BellLetsTalk, McMaster’s mental health initiatives seem more performative than anything else. While offering “self-care” tips and hour-long therapy dog sessions can help students de-stress and perhaps initiate conversations about mental health, it alone is not sufficient.
This sentiment is shared amongst many other students and has been brought up time after time. It is truly disheartening then that the university seems to do little to meaningfully address students’ concerns.
https://twitter.com/calvinprocyon/status/1090777829510397952
Instead of investing in more counsellors at the Student Wellness Centre or restructuring their support systems on campus, starting Feb.4, McMaster is running Thrive Week. Thrive Week is a week-long initiative aimed to “explore [students’] path to mental health”. The week boasts events including yoga, Zumba and meditation circles.
There is no doubt that engaging in wellness and mindfulness activities, including activities like yoga and Zumba, can help alleviate some of the stresses of university and can positively benefit your mental health.
However, it is in itself not enough to actually help students overcome mental health issues. McMaster acknowledges that most students seem to experience, at least during some point in their undergraduate career, mental health issues. This is telling of a systemic issue. Mental health issues are largely attributable to socioeconomic factors. Financial strain, food insecurity and lack of a responsive administration can all factor into developing mental health issues as a student.
The best way to help students is to address the root of the problem, which often lies within the very structures of the university. Until McMaster addresses these systemic issues, yoga classes and wellness panels will do little to remedy students’ concerns.
Beyond addressing systemic issues, students struggling with mental health issues can’t colour their issues away; they require professional help. It is true that the university offers trained peer-support volunteers at services like the Student Health Education Centre and the Women Gender and Equity Network, but again, this is not enough. The responsibility of students’ mental health should not fall on the shoulders of other students.
If the university truly cared about their students’ mental health, they would invest in more counsellors and actively work towards ensuring that waiting times at SWC aren’t months on end. They would make systems for receiving academic accommodations more accessible, as they currently require students to provide documentation of diagnosed mental health issues.
Talk is cheap. So are free Zumba classes. While raising awareness and reducing the stigma around mental is important, what students need is real change to ensure there are actual support systems on campus. The university has a responsibility to make that change happen.
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When Jess completed her undergraduate degree, she found herself at a crossroads. Look for an entry-level position in primary health care? Or pursue additional studies to streamline her career path?
Having decided to take the further education route, Jess began her search for a graduate certificate program that would provide the experience she needed to make her resume stand out. She found the right fit in Hamilton at Mohawk College and enrolled in the Mental Health and Disability Management Graduate Certificate program.
"My degree gave me a solid foundation, but I knew I needed practical skills and workplace experience," says Jess. “With so many opportunities to learn outside of the classroom and get involved in the community, Mohawk’s graduate certificate program checked all the right boxes for me."
As a leader in experiential learning, Mohawk’s graduate certificate programs prepare you, in one year or less with experience you will use in the workplace. Embedded in all programs are learning opportunities developed in cooperation with industry partners, such as capstone projects, work placements, and interactive simulations. These partnerships formed between industry, colleges and universities are key to students leaving with relevant skills for today's job market.
As a university graduate, these opportunities to specialize and gain industry-relevant experiences can build on your degree and make a difference in your job search. In fact, 88.6% of Mohawk grads find employment within six months of graduating. *
Securing a job in a field directly related to your undergraduate studies? Consider a graduate certificate program that complements your existing knowledge base.
Interested in working in an industry that’s entirely different from your university major? Your bachelor’s degree is the key to being eligible for a diverse range of graduate certificate programs.
For Jess, combining her undergraduate degree with a graduate certificate has given her the confidence that she’ll have both the knowledge and the skills to help fill gaps that exist in primary health care environments.
Ready to go further? Explore Mohawk College Graduate Certificates today and find the one that’s the right fit for you.
* 2017-18 KPI Student Satisfaction and Engagement Survey
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By: Michal Coret
If you walked through the MUSC atrium this past Tuesday, then you might have noticed tables of people with cotton swabs in their mouths (for charity, of course!). This was the Get Swabbed event organized by OneMatch and run by the AEPi fraternity and DeltaPi sorority with the help of additional volunteers. And no, despite the name, OneMatch is not a dating site.
The goal of Get Swabbed is to recruit new registrants to the OneMatch registry for stem cell donation. The cotton swabs are for collecting cell samples from the insides of your cheeks. These are sent to the Canadian Blood Services for lab tests and human leukocyte antigen typing. Your DNA is then kept in the registry for several decades.
The one match team will contact you if your DNA is matched to a patient requiring a stem cell transplant. Based on patient needs and the decisions of the medical team, there are two ways that you could be asked to donate your stem cells. Firstly, you could donate via a peripheral blood stem cell donation. This is a non-surgical procedure, completed in an outpatient clinic at the hospital where your blood stem cells are boosted, followed by a blood donation. Alternatively, you could donate via a bone marrow stem cell donation. This is a surgical procedure where stem cells are removed from the iliac crest at the back of your hip bones. Donors are placed under anesthesia for the full procedure and the recovery is usually quite quick with some mild pain to be expected. Your option to refuse donation will also be accepted.
The Canadian Blood Services work together with global organizations to match donors and patients. This global collaboration means that you could be matched to a patient on the other side of the world. Patients commonly in need of stem cells are those suffering from cancer, aplastic anemia or various inherited blood diseases. Imagine the phone call telling you that you are the only person in the world that can save the patient’s life. We all have the chance to make a true impact.
Tuesday’s event was a great success, with over 160 new McMaster registrants to the OneMatch database. More Get Swabbed events will be held over the year, so don’t fret if you have missed this one. Alternatively, scan the QR code for OneMatch’s website below to register by mail from your home. Get swabbing to save a life!
Swabbing 101
Who is eligble?
You may be eligible to join if you are between 17 and 35 years old. Health problems that could make you ineligible include: heart conditions, cancer, blood diseases, insulin-dependent diabetes and infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS or hepatitis. There are also height and weight restrictions.
What happens if I’m a match?
Your blood will undergo additional testing to determine the full extent of your compatibility. You will also need to be tested for transmissible diseases. You will complete a physical examination and routine medical tests. If you agree to proceed, the patient will be notified and the elimination of his or her diseased bone marrow will begin.
Photo Credit: CFMU
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Dr. Zena Samaan hopes to tackle the stigmatization surrounding drug addiction with her recent study on opioid addiction in women.
Samaan, a Staff Psychiatrist at St. Joseph’s Healthcare and Assistant Professor at McMaster, noticed an alarming trend when speaking to patients about their mental health challenges. Many patients reported opioid prescriptions. Opioids are painkillers that Dr. Samaan has seen given to women post-childbirth, with back pain or have suffered a trauma like a car accident. Painkillers can be prescribed for many years.
“The striking part was that many of them didn’t realize they were addicted to these medications,” said Dr. Samaan, who looked at opiate users within Canada to find a common thread among their addiction.
In order to gather participants for the study, investigators reached out to community treatment clinics. Participants were then asked to identify the factor that first led them to opiate use.
After interviewing 500 people, Dr. Samaan found that 52 percent of the women were first exposed to opiates in the form of a prescription from a physician. This trend was found to be less prevalent in men, with only 33 percent receiving a prescription for the same exposure.
It was also found that male and female addicts had different life circumstances. For example, women with opioid addictions were more likely to have childcare responsibilities. Many of the women in the study were also found to have received an education but not be working, putting them at risk for financial assistance.
The difference might stem from the fact that women are more likely to reach out for medical assistance than men. Furthermore, social stigmas classifying men as risk takers may contribute to a decreased likelihood for men to receive a prescription for painkillers from physicians.
This finding calls for a need in the development of better treatment programs. Dr. Samaan explained, “We need do better in tailoring treatment to what women need and what men need. The treatment at the moment is ‘one size fits all.’”
Nor is the current treatment protocol exactly a quick fix. In the population used for the study, treatments lasted for an average of three years but can extend beyond that.
“At the moment, when somebody has an addiction to opioids, they cannot just stop it. Withdrawal symptoms can be very dangerous — they can have convulsions, seizures, [or lapse into a] coma. The treatment is to substitute what they have been using with a synthetic opioid such as methadone.”
From there, doses are decreased, the ultimate goal being to wean them off drug dependence. Other medications like opioid antagonists do also exist, however methadone remains the first line of treatment in Ontario.
“Some services may have some counselling, but mostly related to how do we make you stop using the drugs rather than what other needs do they have.” In women, this ties back to challenges posed by child bearing responsibilities as well as increased likelihood of familial struggles. The services do not cater to these types of problems at the moment,” laments Dr. Samaan.
With about half of the patients attending treatment centers also suffering from psychiatric problems, there is a dearth of psychological support in treatment.
“What we are advocating for is to have a more comprehensive treatment service [that melds] addiction treatment with mental health [strategies] and social service treatment,” explained Dr. Samaan. This would involve counseling and the cooperation of child protection agencies and social services.
Another option would be to limit the prescription of painkillers in the first place, the use of which for more than a few days is not recommended.
“The other thing this work is showing us is the stigma associated with opioid addiction. People often think that these are young people going out on the streets trying to get high, but in many of these women it is medically induced rather than because of risk-taking behaviours.”
Photo Credit: McMaster Daily News
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By: Christine Chow/Lifestyle Writer
After a long and draining day of classes, cleaning your face properly is the last thing you want to do before getting carried away by the sweet, blissful oblivion of sleep. Makeup wipes are the midnight pizzas of the skincare world. They’re quick, they get the job done and they’re terrible for you in a gazillion ways you never wanted to know.
Wipes are convenient for that ten-second tidy, but they’re often loaded with chemicals to extend their shelf life and to get makeup to come off easier. The problem lies in the residual chemicals that stay on your face when you don’t wash them off, and when you take that into account how abrasive wiping motions can be, it’s safe to say you’re doing an A+ job of making your skin hate you.
There is, however, no need for despair. Meet micellar water, the breakout star of the skincare industry and the answer to all your woes. For anyone who’s taken a course in biology, the theory behind micelles should be familiar. The oil molecules in micellar water, which form the hydrophobic (water-hating) interior, break down the dirt and oil on your face. The soft water, which forms the hydrophilic (water-loving) exterior by encasing oil molecules, then sweeps away the impurities. All in all, the two make a pretty kick-ass team.
Like make-up wipes, using micellar water is a one-step process. You apply a small amount of the water to a cotton ball, and you swipe it across your face, no rinsing required. But that’s where the similarities end. A softer alternative to the ‘90s harsh water crisis in Paris, micellar water contains only mild surfactants and is therefore free of any harsh chemicals that dry out or irritate sensitive skin.
Their targeted design makes them gentle and effective, removing other oils that contribute to future breakouts.
Prices for micellar water range anywhere from five to 50 dollars, depending on the brand. If you’re willing to splurge 30 dollars, try Bioderma Sensibio H2O: it started the micellar water trend, and is vouched for by many celebrities and their makeup artists, such as Gwyneth Paltrow. For the sceptics who simply want to test the waters, Simple offers a more affordable deal at seven dollars. Just keep in mind that not all types of micellar water are meant to be used on waterproof or long-lasting makeup, or you’ll be setting yourself up for disappointment.
The main problem with makeup wipes stems from the assumption that they’re supposed to replace your daily skin cleansing routine, when they’re really just a quick fix. Although micellar water is a step-up from wipes, it’s still exactly just that: a quick fix. Use it while travelling, and when in a hurry, but make the effort to do the full routine every once in a while. Your skin will thank you down the road.
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By: Mitali Chaudhary
Nothing makes winter worse, besides the cold and slush, than the dry skin that insists on making an appearance every cold season. Caused by a tag team effort between the heating that keeps us toasty and the long, hot showers that combat the chill after a long day, our poor skin ends up being completely wicked of moisture, leaving the rough flakiness that we all know and hate. So what can you do to combat this?
1) Invest in a good moisturizer
The best way to fix and further prevent dry skin is to let it heal by locking moisture inside using a non-petroleum based thick cream, which will still let the skin breathe. This is a better option over fragrant lotions that are often more watery and need to be reapplied many times. A good option is Nivea’s original cold cream, which sells for around $5.50. Smoothing on some cream after every shower will ensure that the dry flakes stay away.
2) Don’t take hour-long showers
Contrary to what it may seem, immersing yourself in hot water for long periods of time does not add to the moisture in the skin, but instead leaches it out. Water is further depleted when you dry yourself afterwards, leading to skin that is much rougher than what it started out as. To make it worse, the natural oils within the layers that keep it moisturized are swept away, too. So although you might be reveling in the heat of the moment, your skin will thank you later if you cut both the temperature and time of your shower.
3) Drink lots of water, and more
To replace the loss of moisture due to the harsh weather, drink plenty of water. It’s a simple, straightforward solution made easier if you keep a reusable bottle of water on your person so that you are tempted to sip every time you see it.
4) Make good use of nature’s gifts
Applying coconut, olive, or avocado oil to the skin naturally nourishes and heals the dermis and quickly eliminates the flaky effects of dryness. In addition, supplements that contain omega-3s, such as fish oil, are thought to help with the skin’s moisture regulation. Both are all-natural and soothing to the body.
By: Haley Regis
My skin doesn't really get dry in the winter, but the constant temperature changes and bitter wind does a number on the lips of me and my friends so I did a bit of digging to find the balms that best get us through the coming storm.
1) Burts Bees:
This stuff is everywhere and they've branched into coloured balms as well as other skincare options. My opinion? Stick to the original formula in either the stick or pot format and keep it in your coat pocket for lip emergencies.
2) Eos:
even if the name doesn't sound familiar the quirky round shape should jog your memory. Talk about product placement, this stuff has been popping up in music videos all summer. Not to play into the hype but this stuff is great and definitely going to be a lifesaver this winter. Harder to keep in your pocket sure, but super easy to find when you're digging around in your backpack (going by my usual mental state during exams, this is a major bonus).
3) Vaseline:
student on a budget but not into the above? There’s a reason it's in every medicine cabinet you've ever seen. Think of it like winter boots for your mouth. Buy one of those tiny tubs from the travel section if you just want to try it, but seriously. Trust.
Best part? You can grab them all at the Shopper's across from campus!
