11 Common Health Myths, Busted

nytimes.com:

Myths, half-truths and wives' tales persist in medicine. Sometimes doctors and nurses even believe things that aren't true or at least are unproven. That's the focus of a new book, "Don't Swallow Your Gum! Myths, Half-Truths and Outright Lies About Your Body and Health,"

Read the whole story: nytimes.com

Comments

[Upcoming]

Some of these un-cited "facts" are really irresponsible because they are incorrect. There are numerous studies (I won't cite) which show sugar absolutely does affect the behavior of children. It is bizarre that the authors would assert otherwise. Sugar affects the behavior of adults as well. It is fundamental biology and is well understood.

In this day of industry controlled science it is easy to find studies that support industry positions because the industry "sponsors" the study. Agribusiness wants sugar to be OK, Drug companies want drugs to be OK, it is likely there are smoking studies that conclude smoking is not harmful. It is important to separate the wheat from the chaff. If the source of funding is not listed in the study its validity is suspect. If the funding source is a private industry group who would benefit from positive results of the study, the validity is suspect. Because of the business corruption of academia and medicine, reading the fine print of a study is now require to assess whether it should be believed.

[fefu]

Here's a health myth: "Vaccines cause autism."

[FrictionSoul]

How is autism healthy for you? And shouldn't be posting facts that back up that assertion?

[BlackYowe]

Autism is caused in many cases by genes and mothers who do not properly bond with their infants is my unproven theory. So many of the women I know with autistic kids are a little off themselves! I noticed many have a problem connecting and making eye contact. We discourage mothers from fixating on their new babies the way they were intended too. Jobs and other things are interfering with the bonding process and its messing up the minds of their babies. Kittens handled every day from birth by humans open their eyes as much as three days early. Babies need to be fondled and loved and made the center of their mothers world for at least that first four years. If that doesn't happen you see serious emotional consequences.

[RadicalRepublican]

Danm it! Put your whole story here. Or is HuffPo just a free ad page to you?

[alieninvader]

HuffPo posts the link so the NYT can get the page hit. It's their paper...the publisher and the writer deserve the actual credit.

[kapalabhati]

I have to admit that some of those I believed, i.e., green mucus, loss of heat through the head, and the milk / phlegm connection. I still ascribe to the 5-second rule, however, as gravity is particularly strong at and around our table.

[BlackYowe]

I never thought you should pick up food off the floor. Who on earth believes that one? I did believe the one about heat loss through the head too!