Read Online Don't Cross Your Eyes...They'll Get Stuck That Way!: And 75 Other Health Myths Debunked by Aaron E. Carroll - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Aaron E. Carroll
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between how much milk or other dairy products people eat and whether they have more acne. However, in a big study of thousands of nurses, there was an association between those who reported a history of having acne as a teenager and those who reported drinking more milk as a teenager. Scientists have come up with lots of theories as to why milk might cause more acne. In particular, they have speculated that hormones or other substances like iodine in the milk might make adolescents’ acne worse. These theories sound like they might make sense, but they haven’t been proven. And even the big study that connected milk intake and acne has some serious flaws. First of all, this kind of connection is an association, not causation. There is no proof that the milk causes the acne; the linkage can only say that they are correlated. Second, the data in the study relies on people’s memories of what they ate or drank. In comes the potential problem of recall bias that we have talked about before. It is very possible that if you had a problem like acne and you thought that milk might be involved, you would remember your milk-drinking more clearly than people who never had issues with acne.
Even though people all around the world believe that their diet affects their acne, there is no good scientific evidence that this is the case. Experts have developed ideas about how certain foods might make acne worse, but the scientific tests of these ideas let the foods off the hook! Both chocolate and fatty foods have been studied, and are not linked to acne. As is often the case, though, it would be great to have bigger and better studies to try to help us understand what really does make pimples pop up. In summary, there is no good scientific evidence to suggest that chocolate or fried foods are to blame for making your acne worse. A healthy diet should only include chocolate or fried foods in moderation; you can certainly enjoy these treats occasionally without pimple paranoia.
Cold Weather
Cold weather (and being underdressed for cold weather) will make you sick
Does the cold give you a cold? Around the world, people believe that cold or wet weather makes you sick. “If you go out in the cold or get too cold, you will catch a cold!” warn mothers and grandmothers everywhere. In studies from around the world, people report more colds when they are in cold, wet conditions. When Rachel is in Kenya, a country in East Africa that is directly on the equator, it is quite a bit warmer than in the middle of the United States where Aaron spends most his time; but if the temperature in Kenya drops just a little bit, everyone expects that they will get sick quickly because of the “cold.” Parents in the United States have the same fears as parents in Kenya. Sixty percent of American parents in one survey believed that changes in the weather cause colds, and 38 percent believed that cold weather causes colds. Just over half of the parents thought that not wearing enough clothes could cause a cold too. These were not poorly educated parents either; 48 percent had gone to some college or graduated from college, and an additional 35 percent had gone to graduate school.
Should we believe all of these reports of getting sick more often when it is cold? Not necessarily. When the question is studied scientifically, the answer is often quite different. Back in the 1930s, scientists studied the inhabitants of a small, freezing-cold island in the Arctic Sea to see how often they got sick. While they may have been bored on their cold little island, these islanders were not getting sick because of it. Scientists did not find any cases of colds during the winter, and the island inhabitants only started getting sick when the weather warmed up and outside ships brought in other people (including some with colds).
Colds are not caused by the weather; they are caused by something that human beings pass from one to another. Colds are caused by rhinoviruses—a
Even though people all around the world believe that their diet affects their acne, there is no good scientific evidence that this is the case. Experts have developed ideas about how certain foods might make acne worse, but the scientific tests of these ideas let the foods off the hook! Both chocolate and fatty foods have been studied, and are not linked to acne. As is often the case, though, it would be great to have bigger and better studies to try to help us understand what really does make pimples pop up. In summary, there is no good scientific evidence to suggest that chocolate or fried foods are to blame for making your acne worse. A healthy diet should only include chocolate or fried foods in moderation; you can certainly enjoy these treats occasionally without pimple paranoia.
Cold Weather
Cold weather (and being underdressed for cold weather) will make you sick
Does the cold give you a cold? Around the world, people believe that cold or wet weather makes you sick. “If you go out in the cold or get too cold, you will catch a cold!” warn mothers and grandmothers everywhere. In studies from around the world, people report more colds when they are in cold, wet conditions. When Rachel is in Kenya, a country in East Africa that is directly on the equator, it is quite a bit warmer than in the middle of the United States where Aaron spends most his time; but if the temperature in Kenya drops just a little bit, everyone expects that they will get sick quickly because of the “cold.” Parents in the United States have the same fears as parents in Kenya. Sixty percent of American parents in one survey believed that changes in the weather cause colds, and 38 percent believed that cold weather causes colds. Just over half of the parents thought that not wearing enough clothes could cause a cold too. These were not poorly educated parents either; 48 percent had gone to some college or graduated from college, and an additional 35 percent had gone to graduate school.
Should we believe all of these reports of getting sick more often when it is cold? Not necessarily. When the question is studied scientifically, the answer is often quite different. Back in the 1930s, scientists studied the inhabitants of a small, freezing-cold island in the Arctic Sea to see how often they got sick. While they may have been bored on their cold little island, these islanders were not getting sick because of it. Scientists did not find any cases of colds during the winter, and the island inhabitants only started getting sick when the weather warmed up and outside ships brought in other people (including some with colds).
Colds are not caused by the weather; they are caused by something that human beings pass from one to another. Colds are caused by rhinoviruses—a
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