Sorry, moms: it turns out that reading in low light won’t make you go blind; going hatless in the winter won’t make you freeze to death; and you could eat poinsettias all day and not be poisoned.
All this holiday medical myth-busting and more is courtesy of our somber friends at the British Medical Journal (part one and part two).
Of course, you probably didn’t need the British Medical Journal to tell you that — a quick Google search would have popped the bubble on each of the three myths we mentioned.
The internet may be good at slaying old myths. But if myths can spread like viruses, do they also respond under the pressures of natural selection by evolving?
Google might cure you of the myth that turkey-borne tryptophan is what makes you sleepy at Thanksgiving. But WebMD might give you imaginary Restless Leg Syndrome.
Happy New Year to all and feel free to share your favorite medical myths in the comment section below.
(Hat tip: Chris Blattman)
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The body heat thing is pretty pedantic, though.
They base their “disproof” on “well, if you went out naked, wearing a hat won’t make much difference.”
For a non-insane person who goes out into winter conditions wearing warm clothes and gloves, the head represents pretty much all of your exposed skin. Therefore, you can cut excess heat loss by about half by wearing a hat.
That to remain hydrated, all caffeinated beverages must be followed by an equal volume of water. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/health/nutrition/04real.html?_r=1
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/health/22brod.html
The grand-daddy of all mom myths: you’ll catch a cold if you go outside in just that shirt.
Also: you’ll drown if you go in the water without waiting 45 minutes. (I don’t even know how that one ever got believed).
Homeopathy cures stuff.
http://milab.wordpress.com/
I was making fun of restless leg syndrome one time (because I definitely have symptoms of it) in a group of about 10 people. 3 of them didn’t find this amusing and let me know that RLS is “not a laughing matter”. Yeah okay, my imaginary friend Lettuce agrees…
Some of these are common sense, and some come as a bit of a surprise, but it is worth noting that with a lot of them, there are still other undesirable effects.
For example, you might not lose all your body heat through your head, but wearing a hat certainly will help keep your ears warm and possibly keep hair pressed against your neck. Or, eating late at night might not make you gain weight, but it can complicate other bodily functions such as those of the pancreas. (Or perhaps that, too, is a myth?)
if you sleep on a full stomach you will die in your sleep of “bangungot”
Going on vacation will not cure infertility.