7 things most unbelievable in medicine

Eating pheasants causes drowsiness; nails continue to grow after people die; need to drink 8 glasses of water a day for good health. That's three of the seven things that US researchers think are the most ' mythical ' in medicine.

In an article in the British Journal of Medicine on December 21 - a magazine that often offers interesting things in the annual Christmas edition, two American researchers have pointed out seven outstanding ' stories of fantasy '. most in medicine.

Two experts Aaron Carroll, assistant professor of pediatrics at the Institute of Regenstrief, in Indianapolis, and Rachel Vreeman, a graduate student in Indiana University School of Medicine's children's health service, said they tried to search privately. archives to find evidence for these hypotheses.

The result is that of those seven hypotheses, some are completely wrong, and some lack scientific evidence.

According to Carroll and Vreeman, there is no scientific basis to assume that drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day will make your body healthy. And a study published in the American Journal of Psychology also argues that there is absolutely no evidence for this hypothesis. Conversely, drinking too much water can be dangerous.

Here are the six most 'unbelievable' things in medicine and the explanation of these two experts:

Some believe that nails continue to grow after people die.(Photo: BBC)

• Reading books in dim light causes vision damage. Most ophthalmologists believe that reading in low light conditions does not cause any long-term vision damage, but can make people squint, blink more and have difficulty reading.

• Shave leg hair to make hair grow faster and coarser. Numerous studies have shown that shave hair has no effect on the thickness or rate of hair growth. The stubborn hair condition after shaving and not sharpening at the ends of the hairs has impressed the thick and thick hair.

• Eating pheasants causes drowsiness. Pheasants contain an amino acid, tryptophan - which is involved in controlling sleep and status. But compared to regular chicken or shredded beef, pheasants don't contain more tryptophan. The real cause of sleepiness is probably because people often ' load ' their bodies with too much protein or carbohydrate food during the Christmas season. And alcohol can also play a role.

• People use only 10% of the brain's ability. This hypothesis dates back to 1907, but through many studies, brain scans showed no areas of the brain ' silent ' in human activities.

• Hair and nails continue to grow after people die. As explained by the two experts above, after people die, the skin will dry out and shrink, giving the feeling that the hair or nails seem longer.

• Mobile phones are dangerous in hospitals. Although many people are concerned about this issue, some studies show that mobile phones only have a small effect on medical devices. There are too few evidences to ban the use of mobile phones in hospitals.

Quang Thinh