Medical Myths and Facts

The Sunday paper always comes with Parade magazine which often times has many good health articles, healthy recipes and one of my favorites which shows up evry now and then,Medical Facts or Fiction. Here is a sampling of some of the questions you may find interesting.

Home pregnancy tests are foolproof.

Home pregnancy tests (HPT) are similar to those used by medical professionals, and many can detect pregnancy from a urine sample as early as a few days following a missed period. Even so, how you perform the test at home can decrease its accuracy. For example, if you don’t test during the optimal time frame or follow instructions properly, you might have a negative test even when you’re pregnant. So, if you think you’re pregnant but the HPT doesn’t confirm it, check with your doctor.

If your young child has a cold, medicine will speed the healing.

No. The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages giving most over-the-counter cold remedies to children under age 6. These medicines have many side effects, generally prolong symptoms and usually don’t work. If your child comes down with a fever, treat him or her with acetaminophen (not antibiotics). Never give aspirin, which can cause a serious neurological disorder in children. Whether it’s you or your child who’s sick, the key to recovery is plenty of rest and fluids.

The flu is only a really bad cold.

Influenza is caused by a specific virus not related to any of the hundreds of different ones that cause colds. Flu symptoms are different from those of a cold. They usually come on suddenly and are accompanied by general malaise and fever. The flu can make you very sick—some strains are fatal—w hile a cold is only likely to cause relatively mild upper respiratory discomfort.

Ulcers are caused by spicy foods and stress.

Neither stress nor diet causes ulcers, although alcohol, coffee, tea and hot spices can irritate the condition. We now know that Helicobacter pylori, a stomach bacterium, predisposes you to some ulcers. You usually don’t realize you have the bug until it has damaged the stomach lining and an ulcer develops. Anyone with ulcers should be screened for H. pylori with a blood or breath test or an endoscopy of the stomach and biopsy. A short course of antibiotics can eradicate the bug.

If you have iron-deficiency anemia, spinach will help.

Although there is plenty of iron in Popeye’s power source, spinach also contains oxalic acid, which prevents the body from absorbing most of the nutrients. For iron, try eating meat, oily fish, other vegetables (broccoli, peas, beans), sunflower seeds, dried fruits, fortified cereals—and, yes, chocolate. But don’t give up on spinach. It has more vitamins and minerals than many supplements. And don’t let the recent problems with E. coli keep you from this vegetable. The FDA has cleared spinach, and it’s back in your market.

Women who take the Pill have trouble becoming pregnant after they stop.

False.Fertility usually comes back as soon as a woman stops the Pill. But it can take as long as three months for her cycle to fully return to normal. And there is no evidence that oral contraceptives increase the risk of birth defects—even if a woman continues to take them in the first few weeks of pregnancy.

Hair can turn gray or white overnight.

FalseThis myth probably originated with a legend about Marie Antoinette, whose hair reputedly turned white in a single night out of fear of her impending execution during the French Revolution. Hair color is determined genetically, and when it turns gray or white, it’s over a period of time—never overnight. Incidentally, hair that turns white has lost its color, not assumed a new one.

You can’t get diarrhea from ice cubes.

False.Most bacteria and viruses found in water survive when frozen into ice cubes. So if you’re traveling in countries where the water quality is questionable, have your drinks without ice and consume only bottled water that you have opened yourself.

Eating too many carrots can cause jaundice.

False.Consuming too many carrots can cause an orange-yellow discoloration of the skin (mostly the palms and soles), but this is not jaundice. Jaundice results when too much bilirubin, a yellowish-brown pigment, accumulates in the blood. This can be due to an excessive breakdown of red blood cells (hemolysis), hepatitis or various medications. Jaundice also may develop if there’s an obstruction to the flow of bile from the liver to the gut (as, for example, when a gallstone blocks the bile duct). Both a “ carrot overdose” and jaundice color the the skin; only jaundice discolors the eyes.

Bald men have more testosterone and are therefore more virile.

False. I’m sorry to disappoint Bruce Willis and other macho men with smooth pates, but there is no scientific foundation to this claim. First, contrary to popular belief, bald men do not necessarily have high testosterone levels. Second, testosterone has only a slight effect on a man’s sex drive. So, if you have normal testosterone levels (and a full head of hair) but no interest in sex, more hormones won’t help. Depression, a medication you’re taking or another medical problem may be to blame.

Your brain rests while you sleep.

False. Sleep is an active process. Overall metabolism may slow down a bit at night, but none of your major organs or regulatory systems, including the brain, shuts down. In fact, the brain continues to control most bodily functions during the night and even works harder in some areas. For example, it orders the production of more hormones while you sleep.

Asthma is psychological and mostly afflicts emotional types.

False.Asthma is not in your head, it’s in your lungs. Asthma is due to inflammation and constriction of the airways. Although acute emotional stress can worsen the breathing difficulties, it does not cause them. That’s why patients with asthma need bronchodilators and steroids—not antidepressants—t o prevent and treat their attacks.

Frozen or canned vegetables have fewer nutrients than fresh.

That depends. Fresh veggies may grow overripe by the time you consume them, at which point some vitamins have been lost. On the other hand, vegetables frozen immediately after harvest retain their vitamins and minerals. Canned vegetables are nearly as healthy as fresh or frozen, though some vitamins are lost in the canning process.

A strong family history of heart disease means that you will develop it too.

Not necessarily. A bad family history is only one of many risk factors for atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). What you think is genetic may really be environmental: for example, family members all eating the wrong foods, failing to treat high cholesterol or elevated blood pressure, smoking and not exercising. If there is a strong family history of heart disease, try to control every one of these risk factors. The right lifestyle makes genetics less important.