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Do you believe?

Email|Link|Comments (0) Posted by Elizabeth Cooney December 20, 2007 07:15 PM

Two Indianapolis researchers take a light-hearted look at myths that even doctors believe -- and may pass on to patients.

Not exactly a systematic review, the list compiled by Dr. Rachel C. Vreeman of the Indiana University School of Medicine and Dr. Aaron E. Carroll of the Regenstrief Institute comes from "statements we had heard on multiple occasions and thought were true or might be true." It appears in the current British Medical Journal.

Calling it a "reminder that we can be wrong," they bust these myths:

-People use only 10 percent of their brains
-Eating turkey makes you sleepy
-Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death
-Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight
-Mobile phones are dangerous in hospitals
-Shaving causes hair to grow back faster or coarser

Got any more myths that need busting?

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Elizabeth Cooney is a former health reporter for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, where she also was a business reporter and an editor. Earlier in her career, she edited medical books and journals at Little, Brown, and worked for Boston magazine.