Seven Great Medical Myths

Reuters has an article about the "Seven Great Medical Myths"; a paper published in the British Medical Journal on Friday. Some of the myths identified were

• Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight

  The majority of eye experts believe it is unlikely to do any permanent damage, but it may make you squint, blink more and have trouble focusing, the researchers said.

• We use only 10 percent of our brains

  This myth arose as early as 1907 but imaging shows no area of the brain is silent or completely inactive.

• Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death

  This idea may stem from ghoulish novels. The researchers said the skin dries out and retracts after death, giving the appearance of longer hair or nails.

This very much puts me in the mind of a book given to me some time ago, Great Myth Conceptions (left), which similarly puts to ground a lot of false myths (like the myth that Einstein failed his last year of school).