Medical Myths Debunked
Snipped from BMJ.com.
Are you ever standing around and happen upon a conversation where people are perpetuating inane myths, urban legends or folk tales as true. It gets you off your rocker, doesn’t it? Well, here is a list of some medical myths, and the science to back up why it is, and always will be, a myth.
Here is one of the myths in the linked article:
Shaving hair causes it to grow back faster, darker, or coarser.
Another common belief is that shaving hair off will cause it to grow back in a darker or coarser form or to grow back faster. It is often reinforced by popular media sourcesw27 and perhaps by people contemplating the quick appearance of stubble on their own body.
Strong scientific evidence disproves these claims. As early as 1928, a clinical trial showed that shaving had no effect on hair growth.w28 More recent studies confirm that shaving does not affect the thickness or rate of hair regrowth.w29 w30 In addition, shaving removes the dead portion of hair, not the living section lying below the skin’s surface, so it is unlikely to affect the rate or type of growth.w26 Shaved hair lacks the finer taper seen at the ends of unshaven hair, giving an impression of coarseness.w31 Similarly, the new hair has not yet been lightened by the sun or other chemical exposures, resulting in an appearance that seems darker than existing hair.
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I came across this item that debunks the “Make Your Bed” adage. Well, it should be this: Don’t make your bed (and stay healthy). I want to share with you the health reason for bed unmaking. How I wished this had been discovered when I was a kid, always having to make my bed no matter what! The health reason goes like:
“…More than 84 percent of beds in U.S. homes host dust mites. These microscopic critters live in your sheets and feed on your dead skin, and their fecal matter and corpses contribute to asthma and allergies.
“The solution: Don’t make your bed. A study from London’s Kingston University found that dust mites need humidity levels above 50 percent to survive. And while they can’t live in the arid conditions of an unmade bed, a made bed traps the moisture they need to thrive….”
The above quote is from “10 Surprising Places Where Germs Lurk” article by Heather Loeb from Men’sHealth.
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