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Dr. Know is a real doctor (Dr. Paul Trotman) who likes to investigate medical myths and mysteries. When he's not healing the sick, he's conducting tests to find answers to your deepest, darkest medical concerns — like how safe is your bathroom, is it true you can catch nasty bugs from public restrooms, and does mixing your drinks really give you a worse hang over. You need to know!
Read below to hear what the doctor has to say about ten common medical myths:
Myth: It's dangerous to swim after eating.
Fact: This myth was disproved in the '60s, but still gets trotted out. The very worst you can expect is a stitch, i.e., a short, sharp pain in the side, in which case you should stop swimming and get out of the water.
Myth: Carrots help you see in the dark.
Fact: No, this myth possibly stems from British World War II propaganda aimed at concealing the invention of radar. Beta found in carrots is converted to vitamin A, which is needed for healthy eyesight.
Myth: You only use 10 percent of your brain.
Fact: Which 10 percent? Untrue. This myth is based on studies of rare people who have undetected hydrocephalus, a condition involving the abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in and around the brain.
Myth: You can catch syphilis from toilet seats.
Fact: The worst you could catch from a toilet seat is gastroenteritis, and even then you'd have to try pretty hard.
Myth: You should drink six pints of water a day to stay healthy.
Fact: Wrong! This is based on the requirements for intravenous fluids of someone who is getting nothing by mouth, and even then they also need various salts and sugar.
Myth: The human body is 98 percent water.
Fact: It's actually about 70 percent.
Myth: Masturbation makes you blind/impotent/have hairy palms/sickly and pale.
Fact: Yeah, right. Show me a pale, blind, hairy-palmed, masturbator and I'll believe you.
Myth: Women have a higher pain threshold than men.
Fact: Apparently only during the third trimester of pregnancy.
Myth: Sitting on concrete gives you piles (i.e., hemorrhoids).
Fact: Nope. Sorry, this one's wrong, too.
Myth: The bathroom is the dirtiest, buggiest room in the house.
Fact: That honor actually goes to the kitchen, especially the chopping board and the sink.
