Many common medical beliefs are untrue
December 21, 2007Should we drink at least eight glasses of water a day? Does shaving hair cause it to grow back faster or coarser? Does reading in dim light ruin your eyesight?
These are just some of the common medical myths that are unproven or untrue, according to a study in this week’s Christmas issue of the BMJ.
Researchers in the United States selected seven medical beliefs, espoused by both physicians and members of the general public, for critical review. They then searched for evidence to support or refute each of these claims.
The quality of evidence was taken into account and instances in which no evidence supported the claim were noted.
The results show that all of these medical beliefs range from unproven to untrue. For example, they found no evidence supporting the need to drink eight glasses of water a day. In fact, studies suggest that adequate fluid intake is often met by the consumption of juice, milk, and even caffeinated beverages. Clinical evidence also points to the dangers of drinking excessive amounts of water.
The belief that we only use ten percent of our brains is refuted by studies of patients with brain damage, which suggest that damage to almost any area of the brain has specific and lasting effects on mental, vegetative, and behavioural capabilities, say the authors. Brain imaging studies also show that no area of the brain is completely silent or inactive.
The belief that hair and fingernails continue to grow after death may be an optical illusion caused by retraction of the skin after death, they add. The actual growth of hair and nails requires a complex interplay of hormonal regulation not present after death.
Again, illusion may be to blame for the belief that shaving hair causes it to grow back faster, darker, and coarser, they say. The stubble resulting from shaving grows out without the finer taper seen at the ends of unshaven hair, giving the impression of thickness and coarseness.
Finally, expert opinion is that reading in dim light does not damage your eyes, and there is little evidence to support beliefs such as banning mobile phones from hospitals on the basis of electromagnetic interference.
Despite their popularity, all of these medical beliefs range from unproven to untrue, say the authors. They suggest that physicians should constantly evaluate the validity of their knowledge.
Source: British Medical Journal
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Example: Sit close to a pair of computer speakers and make a call. The speakers will buzz loudly - I have observed this effect with multiple speaker systems, and at ranges of up to 15ft.
Maybe it won't crash a computer, but having an EM source like that in a hospital of all places seems somewhat foolhardy if it can be avoided. Accidents come from a convergence of factors, so let's not add any extras.
-Axemaster
This is just speculation though.
-Axemaster
Oh, and I HATE that cell phone/speaker interaction by the way. I have 3 roommates, and they all use their phones a bit. If you upgrade your speaker wire (to a heavier gauge, or shielded... you won't have any more problems.)
He was alarmed because he'd only previously seen such an improvement in diabetics. The reason was that their disease caused the same behaviour - involuntarily - that I was performing voluntarily; viz a significant increase in water consumption (Diabetics are permanently thirsty). This, apparently, causes the lens in the eye to "fill out" and, if you're shortsighted like I am, it improves your vision.
I have been on this regime for about 8 years now and have noticed nothing but beneficial effects. It also helps with general kydney function and in maintaining blood alkalinity. I have advised others to try it and most report similar benefits. The headache one is particularly common. It appears that about 90% of headaches are caused simply by dehydration. Fix that and you fix 90% of headaches. I genuinely haven't had one for 8 years. That alone is enough to keep me on my 3-4 pints of pure (filtered) water a day.
The argument that other fluids provide all the water we need is partly answered by bmcghie's point. Coffee, alchohol and many other "beverages" are diuretics. Even those that aren't often contain the water they need to flush through only the contents of the beverage. We seem to need the additional water to deal with all the other flushing.
Haha i laughed pretty hard when i saw "optical illusion** caused by retraction of the skin", honestly? people need to consider that hair roots go fairly deep(fingernails too). I suppose surprise! Teeth are also longer, when the gums retract(*cough Gingivitis!) Approximate water in a human is 70%, we are little bodies of ocean, with ebb and flow :D
Eyes, no damage perhaps in the short run, but all that strain can eventually lead to damage...(Eyes dilate in dark conditions to see, but eyes also attempt to focus on text = conflict = strain) [Strain = stress = pissed off = no good]Check what stress can do, it's baffling.
Cellphones haha all electronics give off EM fields, consider usage in hospital when it needs to measure in microvolts, any slight disturbance may not harm the patient directly, but the delay in getting the proper image/info because of this disturbance can be serious or fatally harm in the long run. Perhaps banning cellphones hospital wide is unnecessary, though consider going towards sensitive areas of the hospital, its easier to have no/off cell (as standard) than say "oh crap".. Like what axemaster said, extra problems can be left behind. Besides, doctors or any health profession generally work with % of success, purpose is to increase chance not decrease it.
Also, with the risk of using 'speculation' I would say that when I die, all the water in my body would, I don't know, dry up. Thus causing my skin to shrivel up, retract and oh say, make my fingernails look longer. Ask any mortician, when they prepare the bodies for the funeral viewing they use moisturizer to combat this effect. And ill take their word for it, since they do it for a living.
Good posts. About the cell towers though.. The signal strength dissipates proportionally to the inverse square of the distance. The interference from a cell phone resting on a machine is extreme compared to that from a reasonably distant cell tower. You can have fun with cell phone interference by putting it right up to a speaker. It's wild. It would be worthwhile for someone to do the math though (I'm sure it's been done). Again, the rest of what you said was on the right track.