Medical myth can be devastating. Medical doctors should understand the importance of acquiring new knowledge every single day to avoid falling into the myth dumps. Most often, they think this kind of myth shouldn't be examined as it brings no harm, but for some, it is essential to break this thing down into its essence to understand that whatever we have believed in, is false. These are some of the medical myth that we (as a community) still think it's true.
You seems a little bit drunk, drink some coffee. Sober up
Believe it or not, coffee will not make a drunk person sober. The concentration of the blood alcohol is still the same regardless how many litres of coffee you've sipped in. Alcohol is different from any other liquid in term of its effect as ten percent of it will be metabolised by the brain making you drunk while the other 90% would be metabolised in the liver, which can cause alcoholic liver disease. The organ which has been responsible for detoxifying alcohol can process up to 12 ounces of beer or 6 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces or any high concentrated alcohol drink per hour. In another word, the higher the content of alcohol in a liquor, more time is needed for the liver to metabolise and expel them from the system.
So why is it you feel fine after you've drunk a cup of coffee? Well, caffeine which can be found in a coffee is a stimulant. It can negate the sedative effect provided by the alcohol to a lesser degree (not entirely). However, the amount of blood alcohol concentration would be the same. You're still incapable of walking straight and driving back safely. You can be caught for driving with a blood-alcohol level higher than the law permits it. That's why, if you're drunk, make sure you spend your money getting a cab or an Uber instead of buying a cup of Americano from a coffee shop.
"Don't Play Outside, it's chilly. You'll catch a cold!"
Well, almost every parent or anyone who keep on telling you that is wrong. The cold weather outside doesn't give you cold, the virus did. There is hundreds of strain of viruses which can make you stay in your bed with fever and flu. Catching cold can usually happen if someone who is sick either he/she is in your house or a certain range from you sneezed out this airborne microorganism, and you breathe it in. So why is it colds frequently happened during the winter or cold weather? Well, people usually spent most of their time outside when it is summer, but in winter, they just stay inside, snuggling their pillow with a book in their hand making it easier for this disease to spread among the family members. That's why cold is prevalent during the winter season, not because of the weather, not even the virus became active at this time of a year but due to sick and normal people stays near to warm up.
Sugar can make kids hyperactive
If you're trying to restrict sugar consumption by your children to ensure they will be healthy growing up, you are a good parent, but if you limit sugar to prevent hyperactivity in your children, that's good, but the reasoning doesn't make sense. Nowadays, childhood obesity is pandemic. Parents are often overestimated the amount of nutrition required by their children to grow up so as a result, they overfeed them with food, particularly high-sugary food. It's true that consuming sugar can cause a short-term energy boost, but there is no evidence which suggests it can lead to hyperactivity. If you're referring to how children react in a birthday party after eating a slice of cake, that's contributed more by excitation to celebrate with their friends rather than caused by eating food with high sugar content. In another word, anything shown by your children such as tantrum is contributed more by behaviour not the chemical effect produced by sugar. If you wanted to restrict their daily sugar intake, do it, but make sure, you did it for the right reason. Not because of a myth.
Don't ever swallow gum or you will have to wait for seven years for it to pass
Another myth. Why do people keep on chewing on this myth when they can expel it from their system immediately? Chewing gum has been famous for centuries, and since the 19th century, this myth has become prevalence among the society members. There are four components of this mischievous food which are:
- A flavour
- A sweetener
- A softener
- A gum base
The body can digest the first three, but the last one is indigestible. So what the body does to this component of gum? Like any food which contains high fibre (which can't be digested), gum would be expelled from the body, 2/3 days after you've accidentally swallowed it. It will not take seven years to dismiss that. Our digestive system is much more capable than you can imagine. Never underestimate them.
References and further reading materials
- the Editors of Publications International, Ltd. "9 Medical Myths" 23 September 2007. HowStuffWorks.com. https://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/human-nature/health-myths/9-medical-myths.htm 27 February 2018
