Medical Myths

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Chewing gum takes seven years to pass through your system

It is true that gum is not digestible in the human body, but it simply passes whole through your system. It doesn’t stick to your insides, it just continues along with any food you have eaten and pops out the other end. This myth may have partly arisen from the fact that swallowing gum was once viewed as lower class and ignorant.

Cracking your knuckles will cause arthritis in later life

The cracking sound in the knuckles is caused by the bones moving apart and forming a gas bubble – the sound is the bubble bursting. The worst that can happen to a compulsive-cracker is that their finger joints may weaken over time. Arthritis is caused by a variety of things (such as crystal formations in the case of gout) – but knuckle cracking isn’t one of them.

We use only 10 percent of our brains.

MRI scans, PET scans and other imaging studies show no dormant areas of the brain, and even viewing individual neurons or cells reveals no inactive areas, the new paper points out. Metabolic studies of how brain cells process chemicals show no nonfunctioning areas. The myth probably originated with self-improvement hucksters in the early 1900s who wanted to convince people that they had yet not reached their full potential, Carroll figures. It also doesn't jibe with the fact that our other organs run at full tilt.

Shaved hair grows back faster, coarser and darker.

A 1928 clinical trial compared hair growth in shaved patches to growth in non-shaved patches. The hair which replaced the shaved hair was no darker or thicker, and did not grow in faster. More recent studies have confirmed that one. Here's the deal: When hair first comes in after being shaved, it grows with a blunt edge on top, Carroll and Vreeman explain. Over time, the blunt edge gets worn so it may seem thicker than it actually is. Hair that's just emerging can be darker too, because it hasn't been bleached by the sun.

Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight.

The researchers found no evidence that reading in dim light causes permanent eye damage. It can cause eye strain and temporarily decreased acuity, which subsides after rest.

If you read in poor lighting or sit too close to the TV, you will develop eye problems.

Though it may be more comfortable to read with more lighting or sit further from the television, doing the opposite doesn't affect the health of your eyes. Your eyes comprise of muscles. Like any other muscle, your eyes can get strained or tired, but bad lighting or close proximity to objects will not permanently affect them. The only lighting that can damage your eyes is looking directly at sunlight or laser light.

Chocolates causes acne

There is no evidence that chocolate; sugar, oil, milk or any other food causes acne. Some people believe that certain foods may be the cause of acne. No clinical research has proven that food is associated with acne. You can learn more how to get rid of acne.

Natural products are safer than artificial.

Mother Nature has produce some of the most dangerous substances known to mankind-among them arsenic and botulin. Humans have created laboratories to produce medicines that can control or treat many life-threatening diseases. Many important medicines also come from plants that are not only acting as medicines, but also have the side effects of medicines.

The safety of a product, whether natural or synthetic, can be assessed only in carefully designed clinical (in humans) studies - and there are few natural substances that have been tested this way. Therefore it is not justified in any way that natural products are always safer than artificial. Exceptions to this myth are cases where it has been clinically proven.

If we feel cold we will end up sick

Cold does not affect our immune system unless we are so much cold and the defenses of our body are destroyed - and this only happens in a state of hypothermia. We cannot get sick from cold, unless we catch a virus that will make us sick. The reason why we get sick easier during the cold winter is not the low temperature but it is because we are indoors where there are droplets of viruses that give us the cold.

When we keep our body warm this does not mean that we are protecting ourselves from getting sick. A study by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh showed that optimistic people exposed to the virus cold remedies are 13% less likely to catch a cold compared with those who are more depressed.

Computer screens can damage our eyes

A number of investigations and researches made for this myth have shown that video terminals are not detrimental to our eyes. This is because it has been proven that the video terminals emit very little or no harmful radiation such as X-rays or ultraviolet radiation. Therefore, with simple words, our eyes are not in a long-term risk from a computer screen.

-Δανάη