Chewing gum, spiders and jellyfish stings -- all with a dose of skepticism

Thirst is not a signal that you’re already dehydrated. Dog mouths are not cleaner than human mouths. And spinach doesn’t get extra credit as a strength-enhancer. Ha.

So say Drs. Aaron E. Carroll and Rachel C. Vreeman in “Don’t Swallow Your Gum: Myths, Half-Truths, and Outright Lies About Your Body and Health,” released this week.

The physicians, both at the Indiana University School of Medicine, combed through medical research to assess the evidence, not the anecdotes, behind various notions and misconceptions.

Some of their conclusions won’t be a surprise: Flying while pregnant is safe. The best way to cure a hangover is not to drink too much. Yeah, yeah…

And they spend considerable time clearing up misconceptions I didn’t know people had: The belief that an average person swallows eight spiders a year, for example. Or that one’s eyeballs will pop out if the eyes aren’t closed during a sneeze. (How could I have missed these? I’m on all sorts of e-mail lists.)

And of course, they weigh in with actual studies on some of the more controversial health-related topics: co-sleeping with infants, fluoridated water, vaccines and autism, the possibility that Halloween candy could have been poisoned…

But much of their research is useful in either a “so-now-I-know” or “ha-I-suspected-it”  kind of way. Among them:

* Double-dipping with chips really can transfer bacteria into the dip, especially if the dip is runny (as with salsa – and no, the acid level won’t save you).

* Mayonnaise-containing food such as potato salad is far less likely than unwashed fruits and vegetables – or undercooked meat – to make you sick at a summer picnic. 
 
* The five-second rule won’t protect dropped food from germs, but then germs aren’t the only issue.

As for swallowed chewing gum, unless you’ve downed a pocketful of change as a chaser, it will simply be eliminated along with more traditional waste.

Some things, they admit, they just can’t answer. There just aren’t data. Letting someone urinate on a jellyfish sting, for example…

They conclude: “Our motto in this situation would be: ‘When in doubt, don’t let someone pee on you.’ ”

Skeptical and practical. 

 -- Tami Dennis

Photo: Does this seem clean to you?

Credit: Viktor Drachev / AFP / Getty Images

Comments

[Caroline]

Paul Theroux the travel writer used the jellyfish remedy on himself and reported that it worked. I think the book was Paddling the Pacific.

[way]

On the TV show Myth Busters they did a hole scientific look into double dipping.
The findings it was of no consequences. So don't worry just dip away.

[Fredrik Bränström]

MythBusters busted the double-dipping myth in an episode this season. There are already lots bacteria in the dip. You can transfer some by double-dipping, but it's not much. Besides, what's your immune system for? ;)

[julia]

"When in doubt, don’t let someone pee on you."

I don't get it. Being peed on is not harmful, for all I know. So if it has potential benefits after a jellyfish sting, shouldn't the motto be: "When in doubt, let someone pee on you"?

[Fred]

After watching a jellyfish sting victim at the local emergency hospital, I think that having urine applied to the sting sites would be a worthy experiment. Urine is a sterile solution.

[crystal]

The peeing thing is a total myth. I work with Jellyfish, and you really need something more acidic than pee. Vinegar and even ketchup are better than pee! Then use a credit card or something to scrap off whatever you put on at the sting sight. Don't rub or rinse in fresh water...that will only make it worse.

[H]

With Jellyfish and actually many other poisons and stings, the effective ingredient is an organic protein. The best way to provide relief is to break down the organic molecule as quickly as possible. Urine will not do this. applying heat however can do this. Place the affected area in extremely hot water - as hot as it can be without burning. The heat will damage the molecular structure of the poison - enough to provide relief depending on dosage of poison.

[Toxicologist]

Good afternoon. Board-certified Medical Toxicologist here. Regarding jellyfish stings. Hot water is NOT recommended. It is recommended for sea urchin, scorpionfish, and stingrays, but NOT for jellyfish. Acidic solutions, such as urine or vinegar may help on occasion; however, they actually worsen the sting from CERTAIN kinds of jellyfish. Therefore, we actually recommend normal saline solution (salt water) for the treatment of jellyfish stings. Scraping with credit card may actually worsen the pain. You can use scraping for bee stings, but not for jellyfish. For jellyfish, simply do as above: gently cleanse with saline. After that, it's all about pain control, for about 24-48 hours. Thank you.

[Malcolm]

Nice. I love it when someone with actual training and certification steps in an issues spankings.