Medical Myths

Last month the British Medical Journal published an interesting article, titled "Mixed Messages: Medical Myths" (Vreeman and Carroll, BMJ 2007; 335: 1288-1289). In the article researchers from the Indiana School of Medicine examined common medical beliefs endorsed by some physicians and the lay public.

Here are seven medical myths the authors focused on:

1. People should drink at least eight glasses of water a day.
2. We use only 10% of our brains.
3. Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death.
4. Shaving hair causes it to grow back faster, darker, or coarser.
5. Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight.
6. Eating turkey makes people especially drowsy.
7. Mobile phones create considerable electromagnetic interference in hospitals.

You can follow the above link to the article if you want to read the authors' supporting evidence and references.

For myself I thought 1, 2 and 5 were true.

Anywhoo, the authors conclude their article by saying:

"Despite their popularity, all of these medical beliefs range from unproved to untrue. Although this was not a systematic review of either the breadth of medical myths or of all available evidence related to each myth, the search methods produced a large number of references. While some of these myths simply do not have evidence to confirm them, others have been studied and proved wrong.

Physicians would do well to understand the evidence supporting their medical decision making. They should at least recognise when their practice is based on tradition, anecdote, or art. While belief in the described myths is unlikely to cause harm, recommending medical treatment for which there is little evidence certainly can. Speaking from a position of authority, as physicians do, requires constant evaluation of the validity of our knowledge."