'Queer' medical myths we subscribe to
Don't give into well-known medical 'truths' blindly. Here is separating fact from fiction
There are a few old wives tales and health myths that have been around for so long now, that they've almost turned into facts. They are widespread and often grossly factually incorrect but you're sure to have heard, even followed, a majority of the following.
Chewing gum sticks in your gut for years, lifting heavy weights gives you a hernia and eating late at night makes you fat... Not only are these false, a frightening number of people around the world believe them vehemently. Here's a selection of a few commonly-accepted health myths we've all grown up withincluding some trotted out by misguided doctors.
You use only 10 per cent of your brain
Different types of brain-imaging confirm that no area of the brain is ever completely silent or inactive. Much more than 10 per cent of the brain is busy at work virtually all the time.
Pull out a grey hair and two more grow in its place
The truth is your grey hair will multiply as time goes on, but plucking them out can't cause more to sprout. Each hair grows out of a single follicle. This means that pulling one hair out is never going to make two hairs grow out of that one follicle.
Reading in the dark is bad for your eyesight
Reading in the dark doesn't ruin your sight, but reading in dim light may cause temporary eye strain.
Flu vaccines can give you the flu
The flu jab uses a dead virus to protect you from influenza. Dead viruses cannot make you ill. Dead viruses cannot be resurrected to cause infections. That's because they are dead.
Women who are breastfeeding can drink alcohol
Numerous medical studies testing the effect of alcohol on breast milk have shown that it actually concentrates in breast milk and can pass directly to the baby during feeding times.
Men think about sex every seven seconds
If you think abou! t it, th is myth is simply ludicrous. If we assume that the average male is awake for 16 hours a day, each man would have to think about sex more than 57,000 times in 24 hours. Someone with sex on the brain that often would be incapable of performing any other tasks at all.
Men with big feet are better endowed
A study of 3,100 men found that there is no relationship between the size of a man's shoes and the size of his manhood.
Shaved hair will grow back thicker
Clinical trials show that shaving has no effect on hair growth. When you slice off the hair, it leaves a sharp end. Because these shaved hairs lack the tapered look of unshaven hair, it appears that the hair itself is thicker. The hair may also have a rougher feel because of that sharp edge.
You lose most heat through your head
This myth originated in a study 50 years ago when scientists put subjects in Arcticsurvival suits (without hats) and measured their heat loss in extremely cold temperatures. Since the only part of their bodies that were exposed to the cold was the head, that's the part of the body from which they lost the most heat. Put away those monkey caps.
You swallow eight mosquitoes a year
It is virtually impossible for people to swallow so many mosquitoes, no matter how abundant the insect might be. Not everyone sleeps with their mouth wide open and anyway experts say mosquitoes flee from gaping mouths.
Hair and fingernails grow after you die
This is just an optical illusion. After you die, skin dries out and shrinks it's this retracting of the skin around the hair and nails that make them look longer or more prominent.
You can cure a hangover with...
...an aspirin and bananas to toast and coffee, a litre of water. You may hear endless remedies from friends to prevent or treat hangovers. But no scientific evidence supports any cure or effective prevention. You just have to suffer this one through.
Midnight ! binging makes you fat
People gain weight when they eat far more calories than they burn. A study of around 2,500 people of all sizes found the time of day that they ate their meals had nothing to do with whether or not they gained weight.
Jellyfish stings can be eased by urine
If you are stung by a Portuguese Man-of-War, putting the sting in very hot water may reduce your pain. But there is no reason at all to think that peeing on the wound will help, no matter what the Friends show told you.
Vitamin C, echinacea and zinc can stop colds
Unfortunately, science does not suggest that any of the above things are going to help you very much. Sniffles are something only excellent immunity can keep at bay.
Put butter on a burn
Butter is one of the worst things you could smear over burns because it holds in heat. It may also increase the chance of the burn getting infected as bacteria will thrive in it.
There are a few old wives tales and health myths that have been around for so long now, that they've almost turned into facts. They are widespread and often grossly factually incorrect but you're sure to have heard, even followed, a majority of the following.
Chewing gum sticks in your gut for years, lifting heavy weights gives you a hernia and eating late at night makes you fat... Not only are these false, a frightening number of people around the world believe them vehemently. Here's a selection of a few commonly-accepted health myths we've all grown up withincluding some trotted out by misguided doctors.
You use only 10 per cent of your brain
Different types of brain-imaging confirm that no area of the brain is ever completely silent or inactive. Much more than 10 per cent of the brain is busy at work virtually all the time.
Pull out a grey hair and two more grow in its place
The truth is your grey hair will multiply as time goes on, but plucking them out can't cause more to sprout. Each hair grows out of a single follicle. This means that pulling one hair out is never going to make two hairs grow out of that one follicle.
Reading in the dark is bad for your eyesight
Reading in the dark doesn't ruin your sight, but reading in dim light may cause temporary eye strain.
Flu vaccines can give you the flu
The flu jab uses a dead virus to protect you from influenza. Dead viruses cannot make you ill. Dead viruses cannot be resurrected to cause infections. That's because they are dead.
Women who are breastfeeding can drink alcohol
Numerous medical studies testing the effect of alcohol on breast milk have shown that it actually concentrates in breast milk and can pass directly to the baby during feeding times.
Men think about sex every seven seconds
If you think abou! t it, th is myth is simply ludicrous. If we assume that the average male is awake for 16 hours a day, each man would have to think about sex more than 57,000 times in 24 hours. Someone with sex on the brain that often would be incapable of performing any other tasks at all.
Men with big feet are better endowed
A study of 3,100 men found that there is no relationship between the size of a man's shoes and the size of his manhood.
Shaved hair will grow back thicker
Clinical trials show that shaving has no effect on hair growth. When you slice off the hair, it leaves a sharp end. Because these shaved hairs lack the tapered look of unshaven hair, it appears that the hair itself is thicker. The hair may also have a rougher feel because of that sharp edge.
You lose most heat through your head
This myth originated in a study 50 years ago when scientists put subjects in Arcticsurvival suits (without hats) and measured their heat loss in extremely cold temperatures. Since the only part of their bodies that were exposed to the cold was the head, that's the part of the body from which they lost the most heat. Put away those monkey caps.
You swallow eight mosquitoes a year
It is virtually impossible for people to swallow so many mosquitoes, no matter how abundant the insect might be. Not everyone sleeps with their mouth wide open and anyway experts say mosquitoes flee from gaping mouths.
Hair and fingernails grow after you die
This is just an optical illusion. After you die, skin dries out and shrinks it's this retracting of the skin around the hair and nails that make them look longer or more prominent.
You can cure a hangover with...
...an aspirin and bananas to toast and coffee, a litre of water. You may hear endless remedies from friends to prevent or treat hangovers. But no scientific evidence supports any cure or effective prevention. You just have to suffer this one through.
Midnight ! binging makes you fat
People gain weight when they eat far more calories than they burn. A study of around 2,500 people of all sizes found the time of day that they ate their meals had nothing to do with whether or not they gained weight.
Jellyfish stings can be eased by urine
If you are stung by a Portuguese Man-of-War, putting the sting in very hot water may reduce your pain. But there is no reason at all to think that peeing on the wound will help, no matter what the Friends show told you.
Vitamin C, echinacea and zinc can stop colds
Unfortunately, science does not suggest that any of the above things are going to help you very much. Sniffles are something only excellent immunity can keep at bay.
Put butter on a burn
Butter is one of the worst things you could smear over burns because it holds in heat. It may also increase the chance of the burn getting infected as bacteria will thrive in it.
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