Myth #15: All Natural Is All Good

We see them everywhere -- "all-natural" labels that come with a subconscious promise of good health, long life, and a cancer-free existence. They are such an effective marketing strategy, in fact, that few people even bother to check the actual content of their favorite canned dessert that is literally bursting with "natural" preservatives.

Let's not allow complacency, or should I say just plain laziness, to lull us into entrusting our health to food manufacturers, reputable or otherwise. What makes a certain food good to eat is a lot more complicated than its being organically grown, hand-picked or sun-dried.

In the same sense, not all products that are artificially engineered to provide optimal quantities or sizes are bad for you, though you should be more wary of these. The next time you go to the supermarket, spend a little more time reading the label, and I mean the one that contains the calories per serving. The percentage of the recommended daily allowance, or RDA, of each additive should be there in plain sight.

Remember, salt, fats, and sugar are all-natural ingredients, too. Don't be fooled by the cover. Stay tuned.

Myth #14: Cholesterol Is Bad For You

Here is a classic example of how oversimplification tends to make matters worse. And in this case, mass disinformation is often exploited by food manufacturers to sell what they want us to think is "safe food."

There are actually several forms of lipids or fats in the human body, and their ability to influence wellness or disease depends on maintaining an optimal balance among them. Cholesterol for example, can be divided into low-density lipoproteins (LDL), very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL), and high-density lipoproteins (HDL).

It is the LDL cholesterol that coats and hardens the linings of our arteries, progressively causing blockade and impeding the blood supply to critical organs such as the brain, kidneys, and heart; hence the term "bad" cholesterol. Among other things, the LDL cholesterol level is what your doctor frequently looks at to determine your likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease.

On the other hand, HDL cholesterol lowers your risk of having a stroke or heart attack by countering the effects of the LDL variety. Exercising regularly and consuming greater amounts of niacin and cold-water fish like salmon have been shown to increase our HDL levels to various degrees, while a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet, obesity, and smoking all deplete this "good" cholesterol.

In short, do not believe everything they say on the labels. Low-cholesterol foods are not always the healthy alternative. Stay tuned.

Myth #13: Cancer Is Treatable But Not Preventable

Some people say cancer is just a stroke of bad luck; others say it's all in the genes and there is nothing you can do about it. That is simply not true. Although cancer does have a genetic component, and those with a family history are more prone to developing the disease than the general population, even the most at-risk individuals can lead normal, healthy lives if they learn to control risk factors in and around them.

In particular, exposure to environmental stress, ultraviolet radiation, and certain toxic substances in food builds up free radicals and superoxides that lead to activation of specific cancer genes in humans. But trust me, there are things you can do to stop this process. It's not a one-way street; even with today's technology, preventing cancer is much easier than treating it.

The first and most important thing you can do is to stop smoking. Cigarette smoke contains more than 60 carcinogens, any of which can easily push you over the edge. The next thing to do is to avoid preserved food as much as possible, and the third is to use sun block and try to stay away from direct sun exposure.

You can also boost your body's defenses with proper diet and exercise. For example, simply taking fruits, vegetables, and antioxidant preparations that contain beta carotene, vitamins C and E, and copper helps your body neutralize cancer-promoting chemicals before they start causing irreversible damage to your DNA. Minimizing fat intake is just as important.

Remember, having cancer genes does not have to be a death sentence. We can fight it with the right attitude and healthy habits. Stay tuned.

Myth #12: Let The Fever Run Its Course

I've seen a great number of patients who run to the ER with acute respiratory tract infection or UTI. On interview, they admit that they have had a temperature for several days and basically shrugged it off.

Fever is often the first symptom of many types of illnesses including infections and autoimmune diseases. While it is true that many causes of hyperthermia are relatively benign and eventually resolve on their own, fever should never be taken for granted.

A thorough investigation is sometimes needed to determine whether the symptom is trivial or indicative of something more serious. Therefore, a doctor's consult is highly advisable.

You also shouldn't have to suffer the discomfort caused by an elevated temperature, so take an over-the-counter antipyretic drug like acetaminophen / paracetamol unless you have a known allergy to it. Taking a bath also helps to bring down your temperature.

In this day and age, fever is not something to be ignored. Even a simple flu, if it is caused by a new virus strain such as H1N1, can kill. Stay tuned.

Myth #11: Don't Eat When You Have Diarrhea

This is a dangerous piece of advice, even if eating does make you go to the toilet more often. Indeed, diarrhea decreases the intestines' digestive capacity, but denying the body of food and water is the worst thing one can do in this situation, because it quickly causes dehydration and electrolyte imbalance.

The best way to manage your stomach flu is by fluid and electrolyte replacement, which means you should try to eat and drink as much as you lose through your stools. Antimotility drugs do help in some cases, but unless you increase your intake your body will have a hard time restoring homeostasis, leaving you feeling ill and weak for much longer.

Worse, there are some diarrheal diseases such as cholera that can rapidly lead to death unless aggressive fluid replacement is done immediately. This of course is best accomplished in the hospital, but patients must take food and water continuously on the way to the emergency room.

In short, food avoidance is not the solution to loose stools. Food intake is. Stay tuned.

Myth #10: The Cleaner, The Better

According to the "hygiene hypothesis," this is not necessarily true. In fact, recent epidemiological research seems to show that the more society adopts good hygiene, the higher the incidence of asthma and other allergic diseases gets.

The proponents of this hypothesis, which is rapidly gaining popularity among physicians, believe that excessive cleanliness wreaks havoc on our immune system by depriving our bodies of the natural stimuli that would otherwise elicit the powerful immune responses that protect us throughout adulthood.

While not yet generally accepted, this line of thinking does have merit. After all, experience shows that children who are more active and participate in outdoor sports tend to have fewer sick days in a year than those who stay at home most of the time.

This means our grandparents were right, after all. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. Just make sure you wash them before dinner, okay? Stay tuned.

Myth #9: If It Worked For Them, It Should Work For Me

This mentality is I think one of the biggest reasons why patients take medications not prescribed by their physicians. If such a concept were true, there would be no more need for doctors, pharmacists, or drug companies since everyone can take what our ancestors have been taking for their symptoms since time immemorial.

What patients need to understand is that each disease is as unique as the person who has it. There are rules and guidelines but in the end the treatment has to be individualized.

That's because our bodies may react very differently to the same drugs, eliciting cure in some and triggering life-threatening allergic reactions in others. It is for this reason that your doctor obtains a detailed history, physical examination and laboratory work-up each time you present for consult.

The next time someone tells you to take something because it worked for them, just turn a deaf ear. It's your body, and not theirs, that you're putting at risk. Stay tuned.

Myth #8: Any Drink Will Do

I've heard all types of arguments against drinking plain water: "It tastes bland," "There's no minerals," "My doctor never talks about it," "Soda contains water, too," etc. The truth is that even 6 to 8 glasses of water a day is simply not enough if you want to live to a ripe old age.

Just look at countries like Singapore where water consumption is lowest. These places have the highest incidence of chronic renal disease, which is what happens when our kidneys have a hard time eliminating all the waste products in our blood. The kidneys work overtime and eventually fail because there's too little water to flush the toxins out.

Even if you drink lots of milk, cola, coffee, and iced tea, you may not be getting enough water for your body's metabolic needs. In fact, taking caffeinated and sugary drinks only makes you more dehydrated, drawing out more water from your blood than it adds to it. In order to stay healthy, you need to make an effort to drink at least 8 glasses, or 2 liters, of water daily.

To find out more about the benefits of drinking water, check out these Health Tips for Beginners. Stay tuned.

Myth #7: The 5-Second Rule

Honestly, I can't believe how many people still think that food items dropped on the floor for less than 5 seconds are still good to eat. In case you're one of them, consider this: If your hand touched wet paint, does the color wait for 5 seconds before sticking to your skin?

As much as we hate to waste food, and I know I do, even the cleanest floor is covered with disease-causing micro-organisms from corner to corner. If you've eaten a sandwich that fell on the floor before and nothing happened to you, that only means two things: first, that your immune system was fully functioning, and two, the area of contact was relatively clean.

However, that will not always be the case. There will be a time when stress has worn your natural defenses down or your floor is dirtier than usual, and when that time comes you WILL get sick. Acute gastroenteritis or food poisoning, which presents as vomiting and diarrhea, is virtually guaranteed.

As I said before, prevention is easier than cure. If you want to eat clean and safe food, take care not to drop it on the ground. Stay tuned.

Myth #6: A Little Smoke Won't Hurt Anyone

That depends entirely on your definition of "little." Maybe half a pack of cigarettes a day doesn't seem like such a big deal, until you consider the amount of tar and cancer-producing chemicals that deposits in your lungs, never to be flushed out, over years of smoking.

If only smokers could see what surgeons see during lung surgery, I'll bet at least half would quit the habit right away (believe me, it's not a pretty sight). And if they knew how much patients with emphysema or lung cancer suffer during the late stages of disease, they would never have started in the first place. Don't even get me started about the harm they do to the very people they love.

All things considered, there's no reason good enough to justify even the least amount of smoking. The benefits will never, ever, outweigh the risks.

My advice is simple: quit while you can. Stay tuned.

Myth #5: There's No Need To Follow Up

Follow-up appointments with your physician may seem like a waste of time, especially after your symptoms are totally gone. It's understandable; after all, you just got back to work still trying to catch up with a looming deadline, or are busy studying for an exam that you missed while you were in the hospital.

In a sense, follow-up consultations are a necessary evil. No one likes them; not even your doctor! Unfortunately, there are a lot of medical conditions that require additional treatment or re-evaluation after the troublesome symptoms have resolved.

Some hepatitis viruses, for example, can remain in your body for a long time after the initial infection and may need prolonged suppression with antiviral drugs. Healed bone fractures, on the other hand, may not have aligned properly, necessitating repeat x-rays and re-casting. Individuals with asthma exacerbations need to be re-assessed to see whether steroids or other potent medications should be added to or removed from their current regimen.

It's not fun going to the doctor's office. However, it's a lot less fun going to the emergency room with complications that could have been avoided. For your own good, don't miss that follow up. Stay tuned.

Myth #4: There's A Pill For Every Ill

Unfortunately, there isn't. The sad medical truth is that less than half of all known diseases have a definite cure, and that most of the drugs available today merely provide symptom relief. What's worse is that this kind of thinking tends to encourage reckless behavior and poor health habits.

For example, some individuals with diabetes cheat regularly on their recommended diet, thinking that glucose-lowering drugs will bring them back in shape, anyway, when in fact all they do is give the body's sugar-metabolizing capacity a little boost. When pushed too far, our natural protective mechanisms can easily break down, leading to complications that are even harder to treat.

In short, every person should know his or her limits. Do not count on drugs to take care of your health problems because one, in all likelihood their effects will be temporary, and two, drug dependence is not without its own dangers.

Believe it or not, an ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure. Stay tuned.

Myth #3: Hands That Aren't Soiled Don't Need Washing

Billions of micro-organisms can be present on your skin at any one time and you still won't be able to see them. Therefore, without conscious effort, it's relatively easy to forget to clean your hands before a meal, after blowing your nose, or after going to the washroom.

Proper handwashing is one of the most basic ways to stay healthy. It prevents the transmission of bacteria and viruses from the environment to your body, or when you are sick, from you to other people. However, a quick 5-second rinse is not enough. If done correctly, handwashing should take at least 10-15 seconds to complete.

At the minimum, you should use running water, an antibacterial soap, and a meticulous technique that ensures all skin surfaces are cleaned--from underneath your fingernails to the spaces between your fingers. When you're done, grab a paper towel and use this to turn off the faucet.

All this might seem unnecessary and cumbersome at first but will be quite easy to do once you get into the habit. As a reward for your efforts, you'll be keeping yourself and your family protected from a hundred different diseases.

So remember to wash your hands several times a day. The benefits far outweigh the costs. Stay tuned.

Myth #2: Wait Til It Gets Worse Before You See A Doctor

Many of the problems I see in the clinic are just complications of what could otherwise have been simple, self-limiting diseases or serious but treatable conditions. Unfortunately, people have a habit of putting off going to the doctor, easily coming up with a variety of excuses such as being too busy or not sick enough to need medical attention. Some are just downright scared of hearing bad news.

In fact, the best time to go see a doctor is as early as possible in the course of illness, no matter how trivial you think it is. More than the prescription you will most likely get, you will also receive two important things: 1) a complete physical and laboratory work-up to find out the exact nature of the problem, allowing you to obtain the most effective therapy; and 2) a detailed explanation of what to expect and what to avoid so that it won't happen again.

Remember, it's always best to be seen while the disease is treatable. Don't wait until it's too late. Stay tuned.

Myth #1: Do It While You're Young

When you're young, your body can recover from anything you subject it to, like smoking, drinking, eating lots of fatty food, and staying up until the wee hours of the morning, right? Wrong. While you may not notice it right away, your body accumulates toxins and minor injuries that never completely heal.

For example, your brain cells die at an accelerated rate when you lose sleep, and they never regenerate, ever. Your liver cells work harder and try to compensate at first when you drink excessive amounts of alcohol, but eventually they will give out and die, and all that will be left is nonfunctioning scar tissue.

So even though you don't feel anything when you're in your teens or even up to your early thirties, abusing your body will eventually take its toll. I've seen enough middle-aged patients with poor memory, liver cirrhosis, and chronic obstructive lung disease to know what I'm talking about.

Take care of your body like you would your favorite car: with good maintenance, regular check-ups, and moderate use. Stay tuned.

Healthy Living Starts Here

Welcome to my blog.

My name is Vlad, and I am a licensed physician and a registered nurse. Having witnessed first-hand how so many people, through limited knowledge of good health practices, inadvertently cause their own illnesses, I have decided to start an easy-to-follow, no-holds-barred information resource which will address the most common harmful habits and beliefs one at a time.

I hope that by clarifying the nature of diseases and the body's reactions to various environmental stressors, I can inspire my readers to become more proactive in managing their own health. Please feel free to ask questions at any time, and I will be happy to answer them for you to the best of my ability and using the latest medical knowledge.

Again, welcome, and I hope you will continue to follow me on this journey to living a long, fulfilling and healthy life.