Common Misconceptions in Health and Medicine

ELIZABETH VAITL – Cracking knuckles causes arthritis:

There’s no scientific evidence linking knuckle cracking to arthritis. The sound of a knuckle crack is due to the popping of gas bubbles in the synovial fluid within finger joints. However, habitual and excessive cracking might lead to ligament damage or reduced grip strength.

Weight equals health:

Equating weight with health is a significant misstep, and can lead to damaging consequences. This mindset may push people towards extreme dieting and disordered eating. Doctors may not take obese/overweight patients seriously in regards to concerns for their health. Some may jump to the conclusion that the patient’s health problems will disappear with weight loss, when the patient could be experiencing symptoms of something entirely unrelated to their weight. While maintaining a healthy weight is important for overall well-being, it’s not the sole indicator of good health. Factors like nutrition, physical activity, and mental health should be considered of greater importance in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Heart attack symptoms are always dramatic:

Contrary to popular belief, heart attack symptoms aren’t always as dramatic as depicted in movies. Some heart attacks manifest with subtler symptoms like shortness of breath, dizziness, fatigue, sweating, nausea, or dull pain in the throat, chest, back, or arms. Some studies show that these “silent” heart attacks are more prevalent in women.

Eating late at night causes weight gain:

The timing of meals doesn’t directly correlate with weight gain. Weight gain/loss is more about total calorie intake and the types of foods consumed throughout the day rather than the time at which they’re eaten.

Vaccines cause autism:

A small study in 1998 suggested a link between vaccines, specifically the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine, to autism. This study has been retracted after being extensively reviewed and totally debunked. The author’s medical license was even revoked due to falsified information. In April 2015, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a study analyzing the health records of over 95,000 children and confirmed that the MMR vaccine did not increase the risk for autism. Even after all this, this myth is still common in today’s society, and has resulted in many kids becoming exposed to dangerous and even deadly diseases.

Cold weather causes colds:

Viruses are the only real culprit in catching a cold. Cold weather is associated with an increase in colds due to a variety of reasons. People tend to stay indoors more often and thus in closer proximity to each other. Schools start up in August and continue throughout the Fall and Winter, increasing risk for exposure. Low humidity in colder months causes dry nasal passages which make you more susceptible to virus infection. However, being outside in cold weather will not cause you to develop a cold. 

Shaving hair makes it grow back thicker:

Shaving doesn’t change the thickness or rate of hair growth. It might appear thicker initially because the hair is cut at the thickest part, making it blunt, but the actual hair growth/structure is unaffected.

Spot reduction for fat loss:

Targeting specific areas of fat loss through exercises directed at isolated bodily locations such as the belly or arms does not work. Many fitness influencers take advantage of this misconception by using clickbait titles such as “Ab Exercises for Flat Stomach: Lose Lower Belly Fat in One Week!” Fat loss occurs overall in the body through a combination of diet, cardio, and strength training, and is driven by a calorie deficit.

The five second rule:

This myth suggests that if food falls on the floor and is picked up quickly, like within five seconds, it’s still safe to eat. In reality, bacteria can contaminate food almost instantly upon contact with any surface.

Avoid foods containing cholesterol:

Dietary cholesterol – the amount of cholesterol one actually ingests – has a minimal impact on blood cholesterol levels for a majority of people. To maintain a healthy blood cholesterol level, your focus should be on overall dietary patterns rather than demonizing certain foods such as eggs or dairy.

Juice cleanses and detox diets:

These types of diets advocate for consuming only fruit or vegetable juices for several days or weeks to detoxify the body. While they may offer a short-term feeling of cleansing, they deprive the body of essentials like fiber, protein, and healthy fats. Detox juice diets may lead to weight loss, but only because participants consume fewer calories. Moreover, these diets are not a sustainable method of fat loss, and any weight lost during these cleanses typically returns once normal eating habits resume. 

Muscle soreness after exercise is caused by lactic acid buildup:

Many people still seem to think that delayed onset muscle soreness after exercise is caused by lactic acid buildup in your cells produced during anaerobic respiration. This actually is not the case and was debunked in the 1980s. Although lactic acid does build up during exercise, it usually gets depleted completely within less than an hour afterwards. The liver and kidneys filter lactic acid out of your blood and break it down into glucose well before muscle soreness begins. Muscle soreness is actually caused by tiny microtears that form in the muscle, which trigger an inflammatory response.

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