Infections are transmitted by different types of “germs,” including bacteria and viruses. Some germs can cause asymptomatic infection, which means that the person can have the ‘germ’ in their body, but they don’t have any symptoms of the disease or they have very mild symptoms and don’t really feel sick, according to the Division of Infectious Diseases […]

You sneeze and your body reacts. Your eyes squeeze closed and your heart seems to jump. Did your heart just stop?   According to the UAMS’ Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, your heart doesn’t exactly stop. When you sneeze, the intrathoracic pressure in your body momentarily increases. This will decrease the blood flow back […]

Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is good for preventing scurvy, which British sailors discovered in the mid-1700s. However, it won’t prevent colds or relieve any of the symptoms associated with them, according to the UAMS College of Pharmacy. Many people are convinced that taking large quantities of vitamin C will keep them from […]

Hair and fingernails may appear longer after death, but not because they are still growing.  Instead, a persons fingernails and hair may appear longer because the skin around them has retracted, according to the Dermatology Clinic at UAMS. After death, dehydration causes the skin and other soft tissues to shrink. This occurs while the hair and […]

Of course we know the sex of the child is determined at the time of conception. Conventional wisdom says, if a woman carries her baby high in the uterus and her stomach has a round appearance, she is expecting a girl. Likewise, most individuals say a boy is carried low and relatively more sideways. UAMS’ […]

To “bee” honest, eating any kind of honey, raw or in any other form, may make you sweeter but it won’t prevent problems with seasonal allergies. The theory that eating so-called “natural” honey is beneficial is purely anecdotal and mostly found in homeopathic, or non-scientific, publications, according to Dr. Samuel Welch of the UAMS Department of […]

According to Doctor Robert Bradsher from the Infectious Diseases Clinic at UAMS, “Venereal diseases, or more recently called sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), are transmitted by direct contact with the bacteria or virus that is the specific cause of specific diseases. “We tend to say in medicine, ‘Never say never,’ when asked about the possibility of something, […]

This isn’t so much of a myth as it is a warning. Salmonella enterocolitis, or salmonellosis, is an infection in the lining of the small intestine caused by the bacteria salmonella. Salmonellosis, one of the most common types of food poisoning, occurs after consuming food or water that is contaminated with the salmonella bacteria. Any […]

Shaving does not cause hair to grow back faster, darker or coarser. It is just a method of cutting the hair at the skin’s surface, according to the Dermatology Clinic at UAMS. Shaving has no effect on the part of the hair shaft below the skin surface, which is where growth and pigmentation occur. Although the […]

The belief that taking fish oil will protect you from heart disease and arthritis may just be a fish tale, according to Dr. J. L. Mehta, Stebbins Chair of Cardiology at UAMS. “There is experimental data showing that large amounts of fish oil constituents may reduce the chance of sudden cardiac death but evidence for […]