The Truth About Eight Common Medical Myths, Part II
Don't bet your health on old wives tales and similar medical myths. We covered four in the last installment; here's the truth about four more.
In our last exciting episode, we gently demolished four medical myths concerning reproduction, water intake, chocolate consumption, and knuckle cracking. If you're hungry to learn more, feast your eyes on Part II of this article, where we discuss the truth behind four more myths.
Myth 5: You'll ruin your eyes by reading in dim light.
Generations of parents have threatened their children with this particular myth, but there's no scientific evidence that it's true. Reading in dim light can result in eyestrain and/or headaches, but the effect is temporary. You're more likely to damage your eyes from looking at a really bright light, like a laser or the sun.
Myth 6: Eating turkey will make you sleepy.
This medical myth appears to have arisen because turkey contains tryptophan, a chemical that really can put you to sleep. However, it's not that rich in tryptophan. You may get sleepy after eating a lot of turkey, but it's probably because it was part of a big holiday feast -- and any big meal can cause sleepiness.
Myth 7: Wearing copper bracelets will help with arthritis.
Probably not, if only because copper molecules are too large to easily pass through the skin. All you'll get from a bracelet is a comforting placebo effect, at best, and that's only if you already believe in it. It's easier to get the copper you need through your food, by eating legumes, vegetables, nuts, and fruits.
Even that probably won't your help arthritis much, though. Arthritis is caused by the breakdown of bone cartilage, and the idea that copper can reverse cartilage breakdown is pure medical myth. Worse, ingesting too much copper can make you ill, even to the point of causing serious liver damage.
Myth 8: It takes seven years for chewing gum to pass through your digestive tract.
Here's another myth that folks seem determined to pass down through the generations. It's hard to say where people got this idea, but it's about as genuine as the Loch Ness Monster -- which is to say, not very. Gum passes through your system in a single mass, fairly quickly, without (ahem) gumming up the works.
Here's an interesting fact to chew on: modern chewing gum, as such, was first introduced to the Western world in the early 19th Century by Santa Anna. Yes, that Santa Anna, the villain of the Alamo. Now isn't that plump morsel of history a lot more interesting than some silly medical myth?
