Health myths actually are really very unhealthy

Conversely, I might add, blasting/bursting health myths is very healthy. Accordingly, a few have been blown away recently.

The first concerns the iPod and fluttering heart pacemakers. After investigation, the conclusion was that iPods do not interfere with the working of pacemakers even at close quarters. Yes, someone can die laughing but not by taking iTunes to heart!

Next was the myth that infants who sleep less than half a day daily would gain weight by the time they become three-year old babies.

I thought this particular experiment was really unnecessary because, it seems intuitive to me that babies who sleep longer should weigh less.

Why? Well, because I had always known that humans burn a lot of calories while sleeping. Secondly, it makes sense that babies who sleep longer should also weigh less, especially since they also will not have the opportunity to consume more food, unlike their mates who sleep less.

The third myth that I observed being shattered was the claim that the chemical bisphenol A is not toxic and poses negligible health risks to humans.

BPA, as it is called, is used as a resin to line/coat the inner surfaces of canned/bottled food products and to produce shatterproof polycarbonate for making baby feeding bottles, water bottles, and in medical/sports equipment.

The FDA and some industry experts still say it is safe, despite the results of animal tests in the laboratory. However, the list of environmental naysayers is increasing quantumly.

That list includes Wal-Mart, two congressmen, a major polycarbonate bottle manufacturer, Michigan, California, Maryland, Minnesota, and several environmental groups.

Why worry? How about the fact that it could lead to early puberty in children, breast cancer in women, and prostate cancer in men?

Finally, comes the myth that only eyes from ‘young’ departed souls were good enough for eye transplants. That is, those up to just number 65 years 'young' in age.

The real empirical truth is that all eyes right up to age 75 years are just equally fine, thus increasing greatly the pool from which cornea donors can be selected from for either emergency or scheduled eye surgery.

UPDATE - Tuesday, April 22, 2008:

If all that talk about implantation of 'foreign human' corneal material made you feel a bit queasy or disgusted, the Germans have discovered an apparently excellent artificial/manmade alternative cornea, made of sterilizable polymer.

More on the BPA issue, and other harmful chemicals in human food and animal pets, can be found here.

Additional sources to explore for further references:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89457935&ft=1&f=1001.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/health/research/08visi.html?_r=1&nl=8hlth&emc=hltha2&oref=slogin.