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Myths and facts

By : Mumtaz Ameen Hamirani

“Drink at least eight glass of water a day”. “Don’t read in dim light, you will spoil your eyesight”, “Don’t shave hair because you will get much coarser hair.” Since childhood we have been listening to these types of statements from our elders. These statements have modified our behavior, way of living and our habits. We believe in them so much that some times we even adopt it in our lives blindly without any rationalization. I was one of those persons until I found a recent article “Medical Myths: Sometimes even doctors are duped”. By: Rachel C Vreeman and Aaron E Carroll, published in British Medical Journal in December 2007. In this article authors have reviewed seven beliefs that now have been turned to only myths but I will highlight four of them which are; we must drink eight glass of water to be healthy, reading in dim light ruins our eyesight, shaving causes hair to grow back faster and coarser and we use only 20% of our brain.

First myth is about water. Water is an essential for our body. There are many different beliefs attached with the water. One is that the in order to stay healthy all people should drink at least eight glasses of water a day. On the basis of this belief many people including myself are consuming extra water that is actually far more than their body requirement. Whereas, that according to the new studies done by the doctors of Pennsylvania, published in Journal of American society of nephrology as cited by Hopkin (2008) concludes that benefits of drinking lots of water are not supported by any sound evidence. It has been suggested that a sufficient water intake can be fulfilled by daily consumption of juices, drink, tea, coffee, fruits etc. Therefore it is necessary to understand that the foods and drinks we use in our daily diet contain water too. In addition to this, drinking excess amount of the water can be harmful for us and may cause hyponatremia (low sodium in blood), hypertension (increase blood pressure), water intoxication or even death. Thus, the need of required amount of water can be met by our daily diet.

Second myth is about our eyesight. Eyes are the reflection of our thoughts and are one of the most misunderstood parts of our body. From the centuries, it has been said that reading in dim light ruins eyesight. Even I used to get scolded many times from my mother. But I wonder if this had been correct then most of the people of olden days must had been suffering from eye problems but literature does not support it. Now the belief has become a myth and the reality is that in dim light our eye has to work more to concentrate or focus which can result in eye strain or dryness, but it is only temporary. In new researches it has been found that reading in dim light can be uncomfortable but there is not single evidence that confirms that dim light spoils our eyesight. Hence, it has been proved that reading in dim light cause no permanent damage to eyes.

Third myth is about our hair. Hair is the most attractive part of our personality. It has been observed that people believes that shaving cause hair to grow back faster and curser. On the basis of this belief many parents take their children to barber shop for multiple head shaving. Many mothers shave the heads of their children even in winter. They believe that their children’s hair will be darker and courser. Moreover, people are spending too much money in buying different hair removing creams and lotions. Whereas, the fact is that shaving actually cut the dead part of hair, not the living part under skin. Therefore it is unlikely to effect in hair type and growth. New growth of hair is basically depends upon the removal technique so it may appear bristly but hair grows independently without external factors.

The fourth myth is about our brain. Brain is the most important organ of our body. It controls all activities and functions of the body. It is the famous saying that Albert Einstein the most genius personality had used only quarter part of the brain. Many people believe that we use only 10% of our brain. On the contrary, brain imaging and many metabolic studies showed that we used our brain far more than 10%. In fact, neuroscience suggested that our brain is divided into different parts and has specific functions like some for thinking, some for controlling and balancing some for judgment, reasoning and emotions. Therefore it is purely false belief that we use some part of the brain. If it had been like that we would not be able to perform our daily activities.

The battle of myths and realities is running since decades and decades. Many people have strong beliefs on myths and had never tried to find out the actual realities behind it. Now it is the need of the time that we should keep ourselves updated. Believes about drinking water like we should drink atleast eight to ten glasses of water, dim light ruins our eyesight, we use only 10% of brain and shaving makes our hair courser, have now proved as myths. In my opinion, everybody should be in touch with the new researches. Moreover, science and technology are getting more advances, so there is a need to keep aware of new things and modern science.