Medical Myths, Legends and Facts

Source: Beth Ann Ditkoff, MD

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How many times have you told your tween to wear a coat in chilly weather so he/she won't catch a cold? The truth is that viruses cause colds, not a lack of outerwear. However, we still tell our children that old adage, because that's what our moms told us. Here are a few other "medical facts" you may tell your tweens. See how many of these true/false old wives' tales questions you can answer correctly.

1) You need to wait thirty minutes after eating before going swimming.

The answer is false. Many athletes eat large meals before exercising or running a marathon. When you eat a really enormous meal (like a Thanksgiving dinner), the body directs blood flow to the gut to aid in digestion and shunts blood away from the arms and legs, theoretically causing a cramp. However, since most people have a normal size meal or snack, there are no ill effects from swimming immediately after eating.

2) Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis.

False. Your knuckle joint is made of two finger bones connected by ligaments and tendons. In order to prevent the bones from grinding against each other, there is a small amount of lubricant in the joint called synovial fluid. If you bend your fingers backwards or pull on the joint, you can force small bubbles into the synovial fluid. The bubbles popping make the "cracking" sound which has never been linked to arthritis. However, since the sound is extremely annoying, you may want to tell your tween not to do it anyway.

3) Eating carrots will make you see better.

False. Carrots contain Vitamin A, which is necessary for eye health and vision, but no one has ever proven that eating more Vitamin A than you need will improve your vision. The need to wear glasses has to do with the shape of the front of your eye, which can make you, for example, near-sighted or far-sighted. Vitamin A deficiency, on the other hand, is the leading cause of blindness in developing nations. The bottom line is you need Vitamin A for sight, but more is not better.

4) If you swallow your gum it will take seven years to digest.

False. If you swallow your gum by accident, it usually passes out undigested in 24 hours. Same with a watermelon seed-no, you won't grow a watermelon, it just travels through your intestines and comes out in your stool.

5) Chicken soup can cure a cold.

Surprisingly true! Chicken soup acts on your white blood cells (part of the body's immune system) to reduce inflammation. In addition, the steamy vapors can loosen nasal congestion and ease coughing. Some of the vegetables used in the soup, like celery and onions, contain antioxidants, which can also help the body's immune system. Finally, aromatic seasonings like parsley can decrease nasal congestion in scientific studies.

6) Your contact lens can get lost in your eye and travel into your brain.

Definitely false! Your eyelids are connected tightly to the eyeball itself, so although your contact lens can float into the crevices of your lids/corners of your eyes, it can never go into your brain. However, when the doctor looks in your eye with an ophthalmoscope, he/she can see your optic nerve, which is a part of your brain. This portal is the only way to see into the brain from outside your body. Looking in your ears or up your nose will not give you a view of the brain.

7) It's safe to eat food that you dropped on the floor as long as you pick it up before five seconds passes.

False. Once the food hits the floor it can become potentially contaminated with germs/bacteria that can make you sick-especially if the floor is wet. Other unclean surfaces in your home, such as an unwashed counter top can also contaminate food. Despite this scientific evidence, researches have done studies looking at how people respond to dropped food. A sweet item like a cookie or piece of candy is more often picked up and eaten than a vegetable, like broccoli!

This article is written by Beth Ann Ditkoff, MD

Beth Ann Ditkoff, MD is a mom, physician and medical author who co-wrote, Why Don't Your Eyelashes Grow? Curious Questions Kids Ask About the Human Body with her two daughters, ages 11 and 13, who provided all of the questions for the book.