“An apple a day will keep the doctor away.” Most of us have heard this popular health tidbit at least once in our lives. But, is this advice too good to be true?

UAMS family physician Dr. Daniel Knight explains that apples are a good source of fiber, are helpful for keeping good colon health, and can help in weight control. However, they will not necessarily keep the doctor away.

“An apple a day can be a good idea if it replaces less healthy foods,” he says. “If you are replacing high-fructose corn syrup or other high calorie, high carbohydrate foods with an apple, this would be very healthy.”

Dr. Knights says that an apple a day should not keep you from visiting the doctor regularly.

“You should see your doctor for other things on a regular basis. Everyone should have their blood pressure screened at least yearly. Those with a family history of cardiac disease should probably have a lipid profile at a young age and preferably before age 20.”

He says that checking your blood sugar is also very important if you are obese or have a family history of diabetes. Other tests are required depending on your gender and age. Dr. Knight says that you should have your first colonoscopy at age 50.

“If you are a woman, you should discuss the necessary frequency of pap smears with your doctor,” he says. “Mammogram recommendations are another area that is in a state of flux, so you need a doctor to provide a personalized risk assessment.”

What has tiny bristles, lives in your bathroom and can house five of the nastiest germs, including the flu virus? If you guessed your toothbrush, you’re correct. According to researchers, there can be as many as 1.2 million bacteria on a single toothbrush. Also, a New York State Dental Journal found that 70% of used toothbrushes are contaminated with these bacteria.

What kinds of germs were found? Researchers have found the flu virus, staph bacteria, E. coli, yeast fungus and strep virus hanging out on used toothbrushes. But, can your toothbrush actually make you sick?

It is possible to become sick by using a germy toothbrush. However, with the help of our immune system and everyday good hygiene habits, it is unlikely that your toothbrush will make you sick. But, there is still a chance for these bacteria to break through our defenses.

How can get sick from something used to keep you healthy and clean? Researchers say, and director of the UAMS Oral Health Clinic Dr. David Stillwell agrees, that the germ problem lies in how and where we store our toothbrushes. Bathrooms are the perfect place for bacteria to grow — they are moist and steamy. In addition, it’s not helpful that most toothbrushes sit next to the toilet.

To avoid a germy toothbrush, put these helpful tips into practice:

• Wash your hands before and after brushing.
• Change your toothbrush every three months or whenever you have the flu or a cold. You should also change when the bristles become worn.
• Alternate between two brushes to make sure you use a completely dry brush.
• Store your brush away from the toilet, and close the lid before flushing.
• Do not share brushes and avoid storing toothbrushes together.
• Rinse your toothbrush thoroughly after every brush with hot water. For a more effective rinse, submerge your brush in hydrogen peroxide or alcohol-based mouthwash.
• Let your brush air-dry before putting a cap on the head or storing it away.
• Use a different tube of toothpaste if you or someone else in your family is sick.

Migraines affect an estimated 28 million Americans, with 35% experiencing one to four migraine attacks per month, according to the National Headache Foundation. Because migraines are so common, many people have come to believe that they are just bad headaches — just a normal part of life.

Migraines are considered intense headaches that can put a stop to your daily routine. However, they are not just really bad headaches, and they shouldn’t be taken lightly. UAMS neurologist Dr. John Greenfield says frequent migraines can be a sign of a much bigger problem.

“Migraines are a neurological disorder and are thought to occur due to increased excitability in some areas of the brain.”

A migraine is a headache, but it is not just any kind of headache. Dr. Greenfield says it is a “sick headache,” that can cause nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to bright lights and loud noises.

“With the onset of a migraine, excitable neurons trigger a cascading event called ‘spreading depression’ that migrates across the surface of the brain,” says Dr. Greenfield. “This is sometimes associated with an ‘aura,’ which is a visual disturbance that may look like a blind spot or jagged lines in the peripheral vision.”

There is no real cure for migraines, but they can be managed with medicine, says Dr. Greenfield. There are many different medications, and your physician may have to try several before finding the right one.

“If you have new or changing headaches, worsening headaches or headaches that are associated with other symptoms (weakness, numbness, dizziness), you need to be evaluated by a physician or headache specialist. This will ensure they are not being caused by a more serious problem such as a brain tumor, vascular malformation or vasculitis.”

For those of you who have plucked those pesky gray hairs from your head, you don’t have to fear that they are coming back with a vengeance. The idea that pulling a gray hair will cause 10 more to grow in its place is simply not true.

If you’re not convinced, let UAMS family and preventive medicine physician Dr. Shaskank Kraleti, M.D., explain the medical science behind this myth.

“Plucking a gray hair will only get you a new gray hair in its place because there is only one hair that is able to grow per follicle. Your surrounding hairs will not turn white until their own follicles’ pigment cells die.”

Dr. Kraleti explains that your hair turns gray or white when the pigment cells in the follicle surrounding the hair die. “When you pluck a hair a new one will grow in its place and because the pigment cells are no longer producing pigment, this new hair will also be white.”

Does this mean you should continue to pluck those gray hairs?  Dr. Kraleti doesn’t recommend plucking or pulling the hairs out.

“If there is a gray hair you must get rid of, very carefully cut it off. Plucking can traumatize the hair follicle, and repeated trauma to any follicle can cause infection, scar formation or possibly lead to bald patches.”

Do you like to get your skin beach-ready before vacation? If so, you’re not the only one. Many people like to hop in the tanning bed before they hit the beach or pool, hoping that a “base” tan can prevent a painful sunburn. Unfortunately, this ritual is like fighting fire with fire.

According to the UAMS Dermatology Department, the skin darkening you receive from a tanning bed only offers a sun protection factor (SPF) of 1-4. This SPF is hardly enough to protect you from the sun. Also, because tanners receive UVA rays in a tanning bed, a tan will not protect you from the UVB rays you receive from the sun that cause skin redness and DNA damage.

In addition to these facts, tanning to avoid sunburn is pointless considering you are damaging your skin whether you are in a tanning bed or soaking up the rays on the beach.

According to our dermatologists, darker skin is tangible evidence of skin damage, and this promotes premature skin aging and increases the risk of skin cancer. In fact, young people who use tanning beds have a 69% increased chance of getting early-onset basal cell carcinoma, a common skin cancer.

If you are looking for a safer alternative to getting a sun-kissed look, consider using a sunless tanning spray or lotion.

Did you know that when you sneeze, 100,000 germs fly out of your nasal canal at approximately 100 miles per hour? So, it’s easy to understand why many people try to muffle those annoying “ahhh-choos” in public. Whether you hold a sneeze by pinching your nose or closing your mouth, stifling a sneeze is not a good idea, according to UAMS audiologist Dr. Alison Catlett Woodall.

“Prior to a sneeze, a significant amount of air pressure builds in the lungs in preparation of being forced through the nasal cavity to clear irritants out of the nasal passages,” Dr. Woodall says. “If the sneeze is held in by pinching the nose or holding the mouth closed, this pressurized air is forced back through the Eustachian tube and into the middle ear cavity.”

The risk of a hearing loss injury due to holding a sneeze is low. However, it is not impossible. Woodall says the pressure behind a sneeze is capable of causing middle and inner ear damage, including a ruptured ear drum.

“This type of trauma to the membranous structures of the middle and inner ear has caused sudden severe sensorineural hearing loss, conductive hearing loss and even vertigo,” she says.

Other physical injuries that may result from holding a sneeze include diaphragm injuries, ruptured blood vessels in the eyes, and ruptured or weakened blood vessels in the brain.

How do you avoid these injuries? The best option is to just let those sneezes out!

Vision, hearing, memory and hair are just a few things that tend to disappear as the candles increase on our birthday cake. Unfortunately, height can be added to this list. In fact, we can begin shrinking as early as our 30s, according to some research.

Men can gradually lose an inch between the ages of 30 to 70, and women can lose about two inches. After the age of 80, it’s possible for both men and women to lose another inch.

Why do we shrink as we age? Dr. Pham Liem, a geriatrician at the UAMS Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, says that we can shrink for several different reasons.

“Older adults can get shorter because the cartilage between their joints gets worn out and osteoporosis causes the spinal column to become shorter,” he says. “Adults can also lose lean muscle mass but gain fat. This is a condition called sarcopenia.”

Sarcopenia is characterized by a decrease in muscle mass, which leads to weakness and frailty and also a decrease in height. Osteoporosis causes bones to become weak and fracture, which can also cause a person to become shorter.

Should we pay attention to how fast we lose height? Yes. Shrinking too fast can be an indication of a much bigger problem than having to hem your pants. Those who lose one to two inches within a year may be at a higher risk for spinal and hip fractures as well as heart disease in men. If this occurs, you should consult your doctor.

While we may not be able to control some changes to our body as we age, there are some habits we can change to prevent losing as many inches. These habits include slouching, a lack of physical activity, smoking, drinking alcohol or caffeine excessively, extreme dieting, taking steroids and poor nutrition.

“Research has shown that a good diet in your later years reduces your risk of osteoporosis, high blood pressure, heart disease and certain cancers,” UAMS neurosurgeon Dr. T. Glenn Pait says. “Even though you might need less energy as you get older, you still need just as many nutrients from food.”

Eating foods rich in calcium and vitamin D, such as dairy, fruits and vegetables, can help keep your bones strong. Also, doing weight-bearing exercises can help thwart shrinkage.

You are about to enjoy a warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie right from the oven when it’s intercepted by the cabinet door and falls to the kitchen floor. That’s when the “five-second rule” comes into play. If it has been on the floor for less than five seconds, it’s safe to eat, right? No matter how clean you believe the kitchen floor is or how clean the cookie looks, it’s not safe to eat.

“Despite what you have heard, there’s no such thing as the ‘five-second rule’ when it comes to food dropped on an unclean surface,” UAMS neurosurgeon Dr. T. Glenn Pait says.

What if you immediately rinse the food off after it has been dropped on the floor? Dr. Pait says that water may not clean it completely, even though it may reduce the amount of bacteria.

“How much bacteria the item picks up and what type of microbes are involved depends on the object and where it falls,” he says. “Some food items pick up microbes easier than others. A relatively clean table is less likely to be contaminated with bacteria than a kitchen floor, for example.”

So, what is a better rule for dropped food? Dr. Pait suggests “when in doubt, throw it out.”

The claim that bra-wearing can put women at serious risk for breast cancer has been around for almost 20 years. Does this idea hold any truth? Dr. Laura Hutchins, a UAMS medical oncologist who specializes in breast cancer, says that there is not enough evidence to support this idea.

According to a Scientific American article this myth began with the publication of a book in the mid-90s, that claimed that women who wear tight-fitting bras with underwire have a higher risk of developing breast cancer than those who do not. The authors suggest that bras can compress the lymphatic system of the breast, causing toxins to become trapped in the breast tissue to cause cancer.

The overall consensus among doctors is that neither the type of bra worn nor the tightness of undergarments has any connection to the risk of breast cancer.

Dr. Hutchins also commented that the belief that physical trauma to the breast, such as being hit or kicked, can also cause cancer.

“Patients sometimes report previous trauma in the area of the breast where cancer develops at a later date,” she says. “So far, as can be determined, these occurrences are coincidental.”

“No pain, no gain.” If you’ve ever played sports or started an exercise program, you may have motivated yourself with this chant. However, when you feel sudden, sharp pain, or acute pain, it’s your body’s way of slamming on the breaks.

If you disregard consistent acute pain, you’re not going to be gaining anything, says UAMS physical therapist M.J. Orellano. “Acute pain is a message to the body that alerts a person to a problem in the system.”

But, what about being sore after working out or playing a sport? Orellano says that these activities are expected to cause discomfort, which is different than acute pain. “Mild soreness may be expected for 48 hours and even up to 72 hours after a new activity. However, the discomfort should not be great enough to impair function. If function is impaired, injury or overtraining may be suspect.”

Why should you not ignore pain? “Pain interrupts normal movement patterns; therefore, training or exercising in pain can lead to other injuries,” Orellano says. Fighting acute pain can actually extend the time the injury needs to heal.

If you shouldn’t ignore pain, what is a good motto to live by? We recommend “know pain and gain.” Learn to know the difference between the sudden pain that may accompany an injury and the uncomfortable post-workout soreness.

Acute pain may be associated with redness, fever, swelling, bleeding, nausea or vomiting, Orellano says. “If pain is not severe but not improving, and acute pain symptoms are absent, see your physician with 72 hours. If pain is causing a loss in function see your physician as soon as possible. If you are seeing improvement after the injury and your function is not impaired, you may be able to recovery independently through exercise.”

If you believe you have a mild sprain or injury, remember to use the RICE method of rest, ice, compression and elevation to lessen the pain and swelling. If you need assistance post injury with corrective exercise physical or occupational therapy may help.