Don't Cross Your Eyes...They'll Get Stuck That Way!: And 75 Other Health Myths Debunked (28 page)

Dales, R. E., S. Cakmak, K. Brand, and S. Judek. “Respiratory Illness in Children Attending Daycare.”
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“Daycare Tots Under Age Two Most Apt to Catch Colds.” Reuters Health,
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Kamper-Jorgensen, M., L. G. Andersen, J. Simonsen, and S. Sorup. “Child Care Is Not a Substantial Risk Factor for Gastrointestinal Infection Hospitalization.”
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Kamper-Jorgensen, M., C. S. Benn, J. Simonsen, N. Thrane, and J. Wohlfahrt. “Clustering of Acute Respiratory Infection Hospitalizations in Childcare Facilities.”
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Kamper-Jorgensen, M., J. Wohlfahrt, J. Simonsen, M. Gronbaek, and C. S. Benn. “Population-Based Study of the Impact of Childcare Attendance on Hospitalizations for Acute Respiratory Infections.”
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Deodorants and antiperspirants cause breast cancer

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Darbre, P. D. “Aluminium, Antiperspirants and Breast Cancer.”
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_____
. “Underarm Cosmetics Are a Cause of Breast Cancer.”
Eur J Cancer Prev
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Gikas, P. D., L. Mansfield, and K. Mokbel. “Do Underarm Cosmetics Cause Breast Cancer?”
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McGrath, K. G. “An Earlier Age of Breast Cancer Diagnosis Related to More Frequent Use of Antiperspirants/Deodorants and Underarm Shaving.”
Eur J Cancer Prev
12, no. 6 (2003): 479–85.

Surendran, A. “Studies Linking Breast Cancer to Deodorants Smell Rotten, Experts Say.”
Nat Med
10, no. 3 (2004): 216.

I have just the thing for that cold … Echinacea

Caruso, T. J., and J. M. Gwaltney, Jr. “Treatment of the Common Cold with Echinacea: A Structured Review.”
Clin Infect Dis
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Heaney, R. P. “Effects of Caffeine on Bone and the Calcium Economy.”
Food Chem Toxicol
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Ross, S. M. “A Standardized Echinacea Extract Demonstrates Efficacy in the Prevention and Treatment of Colds in Athletes.”
Holist Nurs Pract
24, no. 2 (2010): 107–9.

Shah, S. A., S. Sander, C. M. White, M. Rinaldi, and C. I. Coleman. “Evaluation of Echinacea for the Prevention and Treatment of the Common Cold: A Meta-Analysis.”
Lancet Infect Dis
7, no. 7 (2007): 473–80.

Simasek, M., and D. A. Blandino. “Treatment of the Common Cold.”
Am Fam Physician
75, no. 4 (2007): 515–20.

Turner, R. B., R. Bauer, K. Woelkart, T. C. Hulsey, and J. D. Gangemi. “An Evaluation of Echinacea Angustifolia in Experimental Rhinovirus Infections.”
N Engl J Med
353, no. 4 (2005): 341–8.

von Maxen, A., and P. S. Schoenhoefer. “Benefit of Echinacea for the Prevention and Treatment of the Common Cold?”
Lancet Infect Dis
8, no. 6 (2008): 346–7; author reply 47–8.

Woelkart, K., K. Linde, and R. Bauer. “Echinacea for Preventing and Treating the Common Cold.”
Planta Med
74, no. 6 (2008): 633–7.

Eggs give you high cholesterol

Behrenbeck, T. “Are Chicken Eggs Good or Bad for My Cholesterol?”
MayoClinic.com
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“Common Misconceptions About Cholesterol.” American Heart Association,
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Djousse, L., and J. M. Gaziano. “Egg Consumption and Risk of Heart Failure in the Physicians’ Health Study.”
Circulation
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_____
. “Egg Consumption in Relation to Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality: The Physicians’ Health Study.”
Am J Clin Nutr
87, no. 4 (2008): 964–9.

“Egg-Cellent News for Most, but Not Those with Diabetes. The Harmful Effects of Eggs Were Overblown, but the Studies Show That People with Diabetes Should Still Limit How Many They Eat.”
Harv Health Lett
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Fernandez, M. L. “Dietary Cholesterol Provided by Eggs and Plasma Lipoproteins in Healthy Populations.”
Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care
9, no. 1 (2006): 8–12.

Hammett, A. “Shell out on Eggs.”
The Sun
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.

“I Have Heard That While Shrimp Is High in Fat and Cholesterol, It Is a Good Kind of Fat That Is Healthy to Eat. Also, I Have Heard Conflicting Reports About Daily Consumption of Eggs—Some Say It’s Not Recommended and Others Say It Won’t Increase Serum Cholesterol Because the More Dietary Cholesterol One Consumes, the Less Cholesterol Is Produced by the Liver. Can You Explain?”
Heart Advis
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Kritchevsky, S. B. “A Review of Scientific Research and Recommendations Regarding Eggs.”
J Am Coll Nutr
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McNamara, D. J. “Dietary Cholesterol and Blood Cholesterolemia: A Healthy Relationship.”
World Rev Nutr Diet
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Mutungi, G., J. Ratliff, M. Puglisi, M. Torres-Gonzalez, U. Vaishnav, J. O. Leite, E. Quann, J. S. Volek, and M. L. Fernandez. “Dietary Cholesterol from Eggs Increases Plasma HDL Cholesterol in Overweight Men Consuming a Carbohydrate-Restricted Diet.”
J Nutr
138, no. 2 (2008): 272–6.

Parker-Pope. “8-Year-Olds on Statins? A New Plan Quickly Bites Back.” In
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Sherrie. “Apparently, Consuming One Lousy Egg a Day Will Kill You…” In
Pinch of …
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“To Make an Omelet, You Have to Break Some Eggs. The Dangers of Eggs Aren’t All They’re Cracked Up to Be—Avoid Them If You Want, but It Isn’t Necessary.”
Harv Heart Lett
16, no. 11 (2006): 3–4.

Raw eggs will give you salmonella

“Are Raw Eggs Safe to Eat? Ask the Fitness Nerd.”
Answerfitness.com
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Claydon, J. “The Health Benefits of Raw Eggs.” 2010,
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. (Accessed 10/6/10.)

Hope, B. K., A. R. Baker, E. D. Edel, A. T. Hogue, W. D. Schlosser, R. Whiting, R. M. McDowell, and R. A. Morales. “An Overview of the Salmonella Enteritidis Risk Assessment for Shell Eggs and Egg Products.”
Risk Anal
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“Myths and Facts About Eggs and Food Safety According to the American Egg Board/Egg Nutrition Center.”
Businesswire.com
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. (Accessed 10/6/10.)

If you stop exercising, your muscles will turn to fat

Austin, B. “Don’t Let Your Body Go into Starvation Mode.”
Wisconsin State Journal,
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.

“Turn Fat into Muscle? You’ve Heard the Phrase a Million Times, but Can You Really Turn Fat into Muscle?”
Muscle & Fitness,
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.

Kruszelnicki, K. “Muscle Turns into Fat.” ABC Science,
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2006/05/01/1613539.htm
.

Don’t cross your eyes … they’ll get stuck that way!

Brain, M. “What if I Crossed My Eyes for 10 Minutes.” Discovery Health (2010),
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“MYTH: If You Cross Your Eyes, They Can Stay like That.” Globalnews.ca. (2010),
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. (Accessed 10/7/10.)

Nelson, M. “You’re Doing What?: Don’t Cross Your Eyes or They Might Stay That Way.” 2010,
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. (Accessed 10/7/10.)

Shmerling, R. “If You Cross Your Eyes Will They Get Stuck?” Health & Fitness—Health Topics (2010),
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. (Accessed 10/7/10.)

Tung, J. “The Truth About 12 Health Myths.”
RealSimple.com
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. (Accessed 10/7/10.)

Rubbing your eyes is bad for you—TRUE

Greiner, J. V., D. G. Peace, R. S. Baird, and M. R. Allansmith. “Effects of Eye Rubbing on the Conjunctiva as a Model of Ocular Inflammation.”
Am J Ophthalmol
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Jacome, D. E. “Migraine Triggered by Rubbing the Eyes.”
Headache
38, no. 1 (1998): 50–2.

McMonnies, C. W. “Management of Chronic Habits of Abnormal Eye Rubbing.”
Cont Lens Anterior Eye
31, no. 2 (2008): 95–102.

Yeniad, B., N. Alparslan, and K. Akarcay. “Eye Rubbing as an Apparent Cause of Recurrent Keratoconus.”
Cornea
28, no. 4 (2009): 477–9.

Feed a cold, starve a fever

Bazar, K. A., A. J. Yun, and P. Y. Lee. “‘Starve a Fever and Feed a Cold’: Feeding and Anorexia May Be Adaptive Behavioral Modulators of Autonomic and T Helper Balance.”
Med Hypotheses
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Bishop, Eric. “Myth or Fact: Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever.”
DukeHealth.org
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.

van den Brink, G. R., D. E. van den Boogaardt, S. J. van Deventer, and M. P. Peppelenbosch. “Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever?”
Clin Diagn Lab Immunol
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Yarnell, E. “Proposed Biomolecular Theory of Fasting During Fevers Due to Infection.”
Altern Med Rev
6, no. 5 (2001): 482–7.

If your temperature hits 104, you are going to have brain damage

Brody, J. “Personal Health.”
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Dinarello, C., and R. Porat. “Fever and Hyperthermia.” In
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“Fever.”
NYTimes.com
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O’Connor, A. “The Claim: Rubbing Alcohol Can Help Cool a Fever.”
New York Times
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.

Sharma, H. S. “Heat-Related Deaths Are Largely Due to Brain Damage.”
Indian J Med Res
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Walsh, A., and H. Edwards. “Management of Childhood Fever by Parents: Literature Review.”
J Adv Nurs
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The flu is just a bad cold

“Cold Versus Flu.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
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Eccles, R. “Understanding the Symptoms of the Common Cold and Influenza.”
Lancet Infect Dis
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Heikkinen, T., and A. Jarvinen. “The Common Cold.”
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I have just the thing for that cold … Garlic

Haake, P., T. H. Krueger, M. U. Goebel, K. M. Heberling, U. Hartmann, and M. Schedlowski. “Effects of Sexual Arousal on Lymphocyte Subset Circulation and Cytokine Production in Man.”
Neuroimmunomodulation
11, no. 5 (2004): 293–8.

Josling, P. “Preventing the Common Cold with a Garlic Supplement: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Survey.”
Adv Ther
18, no. 4 (2001): 189–93.

Lissiman, E., A. L. Bhasale, and M. Cohen. “Garlic for the Common Cold.”
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If you have green snot, you need an antibiotic

“Antibiotics Slightly Effective for Purulent Rhinitis.”
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Arroll, B., and T. Kenealy. “Antibiotics for Acute Purulent Rhinitis.”
BMJ
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_____
. “Are Antibiotics Effective for Acute Purulent Rhinitis? Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Placebo Controlled Randomised Trials.”
BMJ
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Arroll, B., T. Kenealy, and K. Falloon. “Are Antibiotics Indicated as an Initial Treatment for Patients with Acute Upper Respiratory Tract Infections? A Review.”
N Z Med J
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Cates, C. J. “Antibiotics and Acute Purulent Rhinitis: There Is No Significant Difference Between Antibiotics.”
BMJ
333, no. 7564 (2006): 395; author reply 96.

Dorsen, C. “Review: Antibiotics Are Effective for Acute Purulent Rhinitis but Are Associated with Increased Gastrointestinal Side Effects.”
Evid Based Nurs
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