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March 31, 2004

MEDICAL MYTHS DEBUNKED

These comes from Web MD, and are particularly relevant because I have a friend who incessantly swallows her gum, and who thinks that standing out in the cold and rain causes you to get sick.

True or False: Chewing gum takes seven years to pass through your digestive system. I was surprised to learn that the answer to this question is false. I was brought up with the belief that this was true, so I'm always telling this friend of mine that what she's doing is damaging. Who knew! From Web MD:

The gum component itself is pretty indigestible, but will "pass" in a mass and will not stick your insides together, either. This one probably got going when exasperated parents tired of buying more gum after half an hour because their kids had chomped, then swallowed, their allotment. Also, swallowing gum was seen as ignorant and lower class.

True or False: Staying out in the cold and wind and rain will give you a cold. My friend's wrong on this one. She thinks it's the weather, which as we'll see below, is not the case. From Web MD:

Colds are caused by viruses, with enough variations to give you a choice of 200 versions of a cold (which is why you get them over and over again). Because viruses get into healthy cells, it's difficult to kill them without knocking off the good cells. This is the job of your immune system, which usually clears out cold viruses in a week or two. You can get the virus through inhaling infected air droplets sneezed or coughed by an infected person, or by touching something that an infected person has touched and then transferring the germs to your mouth or nose. You don't get it from cold air, slush, wind, or other wintry conditions. So what's the best way to ward off this miserable virus? Wash your hands, often.

Okay, well, there you have it. I'm off to wash my hands and swallow some gum!

Posted by Mikal at March 31, 2004 1:00 PM | TrackBack