Dr. Keith Hopcroft of The Times has put together his list top 9 medical myths. Can having sex cause a heart attack? Are headaches a sign of brain tumors? Is breast self-exam actually useless? Can the flu shot give you the flu? Put your medical knowledge to the test. Check out the myths, inside…
9. Having sex can cause a heart attack in men.
Mostly untrue. Per hour, the chances of a 50 year old, non-smoking male suffering a heart attack is about 1 in a million. During sex this increases to 2 in a million which is still negligible.
8. High blood pressure causes headaches.
Very untrue except for in extreme rare cases. High blood pressure usually has no superficial symptoms at all.
7. Diabetics crave sugar.
Mostly untrue. Some diabetics require sugar if their glucose is too low but craving sugar by itself does not equal diabetes.
6. Women need to self-examine their breasts.
Very untrue. Research shows that self-exam has no effect in terms of breast cancer outcomes because it isn’t sensitive enough to detect important lumps. In fact it can cause harm by subjecting examiners to increased anxiety. The same holds true for testicular self-exam in males.
5. Diet cuts cholesterol.
Mostly untrue. In clinical trials, diet alone could only cut cholesterol by 10%. Doctors rarely suggest diet changes alone if your cholesterol really needs lowering.
4. Headaches alone can be a sign of a brain tumor.
Totally untrue. Actual tumors produce other symptoms like personality change, fits, or shaking.
3. You shouldn’t mix antibiotics and alcohol.
Totally untrue with the exception of the antibiotic metronidazole. Most interactions between alcohol and antibiotics are so small that they’re irrelevant.
2. Your tiredness may be caused by anemia.
Mostly untrue. Tiredness by itself is common and usually caused by lifestyle issues. Many times people with tiredness have blood tests that reveal anemia but it was probably not the actual cause of the tiredness.
1. Flu shots give you the flu.
Totally untrue. The vaccine does not contain live virus so it cannot cause the flu. However, many people will contract the cold or the flu around the time of their flu shot and link it to their flu shot.
The top medical myths [The Times]
(Photo: Getty)
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@Balisong:
Doctors are known to prescribe unnecessary tests to their clients. One reason is the litigious society we live in. Even if the risk is minuscule it is better (from the perspective of the doctor) to have the client and insurance company pay for an unnecessary test rather than risk a potentially carrier-ending lawsuit. Another reason is that a doctor telling a worried client there is nothing to worry about comes across as uncaring and as a “bad doctor”. (“What? I have a problem and you’re not fixing it!?!!”) That does not encourage repeat business.
I know that my high blood pressure was definitely a source of headaches for me. Heck I know when I’m overdue for my daily pill by the buildup of pressure in my head…
@Consumerist Moderator – ACAMBRAS: In regards to breast exams, there have been huge clinical trials (tens of thousands of patients) that have demonstrated that there is no increase in either finding breast cancer or improved survival (from breast CA) in women who did vs. did not do breast self exams. Many doctors still recommend BSE because it is easy and free (and to cover their ass legally), but if you want to talk about evidence, it’s against BSE. There is also the downside of BSE that if you find a lump (very often benign), you begin to do sometimes unnecessary tests that may lead to health issues down the road.
@lemur: I understand that, but all the same I thought it a decent idea. Maybe just cause my father had a brain tumor (which the doctor didn’t know before he said to get the scan), and it is kinda scary to get a migraine out of nowhere when you don’t even get headaches typically *shrug*
@facted: If there’s a 0.1% chance that a BSE will find a cancer before another exam would (and if we’re saying mammograms are unnecessary too, then how else would you find it?) then it seems to me to be worth it.
The only reason I can see is the one you bring up, that the tests involved could create other health issues. But really, if one person found a tumor because of a self exam, then I think that qualifies as something that does more good than harm.
@Gann:
Your analysis is a little off.
As quoted (who knows if it’s true), the chances PER HOUR of a 50-year old non-smoker having a heart attack are 1 in 1 million.
Maybe a “higher-risk” person might have a 1 in several hundred thousand chance of having a heart attack PER HOUR. Doubling that risk is still very low PER HOUR.
So, if a high risk man had a 1 in 300,000 chance PER HOUR and had sex for 12 hours a day, his risk would increase to 1 in 200,000 chance PER HOUR.
I’m quite sure that nobody has a 30% chance PER HOUR of having a heart attack. Even the extremely lucky would be dead by tomorrow. (1.9% survival for 12 hours, 0.019% for 24 hours)
Except for #1 and # 3 Dr Hops head is an idiot.
I think the whole list is a fraud. I think it’s purpose is to prepare us all for the Democrat’s social medicine program – to keep us from going to the doctor when we really should – all to save money for the government bureaucracy that will ensue if Clintoon or B. Hussein Obama gets elected.
@chrisjames: I wondered about that, too. I have very severe hypertension (normal runs about 180/110; my worst reading ever was 262/212) and I do get bad headaches. And anyone who reads this who ever has to take metronidazole – definitely do not drink while taking it. It causes severe antabuse-like reactions. Not to mention the medicine alone smells and tastes disgusting. Ugh, I can’t even think about it without gagging.
@chrisjames:Sorry if this double-posts, but I posted like 10 minutes ago and it didn’t show up. What I had said was that I have severe hypertension – I can control it with meds at times, but then it seems like I reach a plateau where the meds don’t work anymore. When that happens, my BP runs 180/110 on average and was as high as 262/212 at one point (yes, I was hospitalized, for four days, when I was on vacation in Miami. Long story). I DEFINITELY get some wicked headaches when it’s really on the high side.
The Consumerist shouldn’t be posting unsound medical advice.
Was this list even read before it was posted?
This is… not entirely accurate. I feel that articles like these are actually detrimental to most patients. I’ve had more than a few who come in working under blanket statements like these- and in my experience, it’s never helped them.
5. Diet cuts cholesterol.
Mostly untrue. In clinical trials, diet alone could only cut cholesterol by 10%. Doctors rarely suggest diet changes alone if your cholesterol really needs lowering.
Absolute, unequivocal horseshit. Diet can absolutely lower cholesterol. Maybe this is a mistaken thought process with regards to the myth that foods high in cholesterol cause high cholesterol, but this is completely wrong. Dietary changes are the first recommendation made by any cardiologist when someone is having issues with high cholesterol.
I call bs on this entire article. Written by a doctor who of course wants you to go see a doctor frequently. And there are flu vaccines that contain the live virus.. so thats a straight up lie.
#12. Trusting a doctor is like trusting a drug dealer.
Wow, this is pretty crappy. There’s *no* actual data to back up these claims — one person asked on the actual article, and was told “email us privately for that info.” Why? Shouldn’t it be public? All they had to do is say, “It’s on this webpage” or somesuch.
And, please. Some of this stuff is outright nonsense. While self-exams may panic some people, many others credit finding a lump themselves with saving their lives. And diabetics with high blood sugar CAN crave sugar (and other foods) because high blood sugar means food isn’t being broken down, so you’re even more hungry. And no I don’t have references for it. But then, I’m not claiming to be a doctor
.
yeah, I call bullshit on the headache brain tumor thing. Why? My dad showed up to the ER with an extremely bad headache and BOOM, he had cancer. So yeah, do your research.
@Rode2008:
I get you have that opinion, but try not to sound like so much of an ass when you express it.
Research public health policy before your knock it, bub. Oh, and you know those jerks who make everything political? You’re that guy (or girl).
@radleyas:
Dude, I never want to hear about your grandparents being intimate ever again. WTF, seriously?