The monthly “scientific” rumor list is guided by the Beijing Association of Science and Technology, the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Internet and the Internet Society, and jointly released by the Beijing Science and Technology Journalists Editors Association and the Beijing area website joint rumor platform. Supported by the Science and Technology Journalists and Editors Professional Committee of the China Science Writers Association, the China Evening News Science Editors and Journalists Association, the Shanghai Science and Technology Communication Association, and the Science and Technology Information Institute of the Beijing Academy of Science and Technology.
1. Sleeping in an east-west orientation can lead to insomnia
Rumors:
When sleeping, the body should conform to the direction of the earth’s magnetic field, that is, lie down in the north-south direction. Sleeping in east-west orientation can lead to insomnia.
Truth:
The effect of the Earth’s magnetic field on the human body is minimal, and there is currently no research to prove that the orientation of the bed affects sleep quality. In this regard, experts from the Sleep Disorders Collaborative Group of the Chinese Medical Association said that human beings are exposed to various magnetic fields all the time, and the human body also has a magnetic field, but the magnetic field of the human body is one ten millionth of the strength of the earth’s magnetic field, and the two have established a certain balance. Therefore, the impact of the earth’s magnetic field on the human body is minimal, and there is no research to confirm that sleep orientation affects sleep.
Insomnia is mainly caused by sleep rhythm disorders, such as changing work and rest time frequently, going to bed late and getting up late, doing things in bed that are not related to sleep (reading books, playing with mobile phones), etc., all of which may affect Human rhythm, aggravating insomnia.
In addition, insomnia is also affected by age, genetic factors, health environment, etc., mental illness, medication, etc. can also cause sleep disorders of varying degrees. There are many reasons for insomnia, so the treatment of insomnia cannot be “one thousand people”. Targeted treatment plans should be given, including improving sleep environment, establishing good living habits, improving emotional state, appropriate drugs and physical therapy.
2. Frequent “hand shake” is Parkinson’s disease
Rumors:
As society ages, so does the incidence of Parkinson’s disease: some people have frequent hand shaking, a symptom of Parkinson’s disease.
Truth:
The term “hand tremor” is called tremor, which is a typical symptom of Parkinson’s disease in the eyes of the public, but having hand tremor does not necessarily mean Parkinson’s disease, psychological stress, muscle fatigue Tremors can also be caused by things like taking certain medications.
On the other hand, not all people with Parkinson’s disease have tremors — some people have just stiffness in their limbs and no tremors, a condition known as non-tremorative Parkinson’s.
In fact, slowness of movement is the core symptom of Parkinson’s disease. Patients may feel that fine movements such as brushing teeth and beating eggs are inflexible, their arms cannot swing freely when walking, their writing becomes smaller, and their expressions become dull. Patients may also have trunk rolls, involuntary limb movements, or obvious postural abnormalities at certain periods, which is medically called dyskinesia or dystonia.
As the disease progresses, patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease will experience symptoms such as unsteady walking, easy falling, and eventually unable to walk independently and need to rely on a wheelchair or bed.
In addition, Parkinson’s disease also has many non-motor symptoms, including loss of smell, depression, sleep problems, decreased intelligence, frequent urination, intractable constipation, etc., which usually require multidisciplinary participation. , in order to provide a better comprehensive treatment plan, not only “hand shake” or not.
If the middle-aged and elderly people continue to experience some slowness in their daily life, such as the reduction or disappearance of the natural arm swing when walking, walking slowly, turning slowly, unbuttoning and dressing Inflexibility, slow turning at night, slow use of chopsticks and writing, etc., need to be vigilant. These slow movements are not necessarily caused by old age, but may also involve Parkinson’s disease, Parkinson’s syndrome, Parkinson’s superimposition syndrome, etc. disease.
3. Negative pressure wards can cause breathing difficulties
Rumors:
Negative pressure wards can isolate pathogens, but the reduced air pressure may make it difficult for patients to breathe.
Truth:
The negative pressure ward mainly treats patients with infectious diseases transmitted by aerosol and droplet respiratory tract. Since the air pressure in this type of ward is lower than the air pressure outside the ward, only fresh air from outside is allowed to flow into the ward, and the air contaminated by pathogens in the ward will not leak out, but will be discharged to a fixed place in time through a special channel . Although the air pressure in the negative pressure ward is smaller than the outside world, it is generally only 15 Pa less, and the atmospheric pressure on the ground is generally around 100 kPa, and the change of 15 Pa will not affect the patient’s breathing at all.
Not only that, the professional negative pressure ward is equipped with fresh air equipment. The fresh air entering the ward needs to be purified, and the exhausted air also needs to be fully treated to ensure safety before it can be discharged into the external environment.
4. Eating oranges and drinking Coke can lead to positive antigen tests
Rumors:
Don’t eat oranges or drink Coke before taking the COVID-19 antigen test, otherwise the result will become positive.
Truth:
Drinking Coke, eating oranges, and other daily meals will not affect the antigen test results.
Antigen nucleic acid detection should be performed in strict accordance with the instructions. If the operation does not meet the standards, the results obtained are meaningless, but the antigen detection results cannot be considered inaccurate. The principle of the detection kit is simply to capture viral antigens by specific antibodies, but the binding of antigens and antibodies needs to occur at an appropriate pH (acidity and alkalinity). normalIn some cases, the sample treatment solution for soaking the swab contains a buffer system to ensure that the antigen-antibody binds at a suitable pH. However, if cola, orange juice and other liquids are directly dropped on the antigen detection kit, the unsuitable pH value will cause non-specific false positive results.
So, can an antigen test be done after eating acidic foods? The answer is yes. After sampling, the swab needs to be soaked in the sample treatment solution before testing. The sample treatment solution contains substances such as Tris-glycine and high-concentration sodium chloride, which can effectively stabilize the structure of the gold-labeled antibody and avoid the occurrence of interference reactions. As long as the collection swab is mixed with the sample processing solution according to the standard operating procedures, and then the test is carried out, there is no need to worry about false positives caused by acidic substances.
5. Taking “smart drugs” can improve test takers’ concentration
Rumors:
Before important exams, taking “smart medicine” can improve concentration and help candidates achieve better grades.
Truth:
The so-called medicine that can “improve concentration” was once popular among candidates and parents, online writers, postgraduates, and public exams under the name of “smart medicine”. In fact, “smart drugs” are actually central nervous system stimulants such as Modafinil, Ritalin, and Zhida, which belong to a class of controlled psychoactive drugs.
These drugs are clinically used to treat children’s attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, severe narcolepsy, etc. Healthy people will feel energetic at the beginning, but will soon show nausea, Side effects such as insomnia and headaches may also form drug dependence.
6. Dogs cry when they are wronged
Rumors:
Dogs are emotional animals, so they cry like human children when they are wronged.
Truth:
Many vertebrates, including mammals such as cattle and sheep, secrete tears that protect and flush the ocular surface. The tears of pet dogs at home are often not because of grievances, but because of nutritional or health problems.
The lacrimal glands of dogs are located above and outside the orbit. Under normal circumstances, excess tears enter the lacrimal sac and nasolacrimal duct through the opening of the lacrimal duct (puncta) at the inner corner of the eye, and after reaching the nasal cavity, breathe with The air evaporates without tears. If the accumulation of tears increases, it may be because the eyes are stimulated by adverse factors or the lacrimal duct is blocked and cannot discharge tears normally, or it is in the early stage of infection of some infectious diseases.
If local inflammation occurs, in addition to watery eyes, it is usually accompanied by symptoms such as redness and swelling around the eyes. If the lacrimal duct is blocked, it will be accompanied by moist dermatitis below the inner corner of the eye and the puncta can squeeze out mucopurulent secretions. If an infectious disease occurs, it may be accompanied by symptoms such as increased body temperature, vomiting, diarrhea, runny nose, cough, and loss of appetite.
In addition, not all dog tears are caused by disease, but may also be due to excess nutrition. If you find that the dog has more tears, and is accompanied by excessive eye mucus (eye mucus), and there are no other symptoms, it may be related to excess nutrition, which can be adjusted by reducing the amount of meat fed.
7. Foods made of glutinous rice are not easy to digest
Rumors:
Dumplings, Yuanxiao and other foods are made of glutinous rice, which is sticky and difficult to digest, so you can’t eat more each time.
Truth:
People think glutinous rice is difficult to digest, probably because glutinous rice balls, Yuanxiao, eight-treasure rice and other foods also contain a lot of sugar and fat, giving people a “greasy” feeling. In fact, sticky sticky rice is easier to digest than other pastas.
The staple food people often eat, such as rice, white noodles, etc., mainly contain amylose, while more than 99% of glutinous rice is amylopectin, and its molecular structure is forked. more, so it is easier to gelatinize. When the human digestive system decomposes starch, it is hydrolyzed from the end of the molecule, so there are many branched amylopectin, and the efficiency of hydrolysis and digestion is actually higher.
However, because of its faster digestion, glutinous rice also has a faster GI (GI) than the rice and white noodles we usually eat (GI of rice is 82, while glutinous rice is 82). GI is 87), so it is not advisable to eat too much at one time.
8. Sampling swabs for COVID-19 testing are toxic
Rumors:
The cotton swabs used for nucleic acid and antigen tests are stained with toxic carcinogens such as fluorescent agents, which can cause sore throat and even cancer.
Truth:
The swab itself for testing and sampling does not contain any reagents, nor does it need to contain reagents. At the same time, sampling swabs are medical devices, and the basic requirements are non-toxic and harmless. The claim that swabs are “toxic” is completely nonsense.
The cotton swabs in daily life are made of absorbent cotton. The sampling swabs look similar to ordinary “cotton swabs”, but the top is actually a flocked swab. The flocking swab is made of nylon fiber flocking technology, and the front end is coated with nylon short fibers fixed in a vertical manner, so that there is no absorption hole in the entire collection area of the swab. In this way, the collected sample is not dispersed and retained in the fiber, which facilitates faster and more efficient elution of the sample. Relevant data show that flocking swabs can elute more than 85% of the sample collection volume. In contrast, cotton swabs made of absorbent cotton cannot completely collect and elute samples due to their strong absorption capacity.
Source of this issue:
Science and Technology Daily, China News, Beijing Youth Daily, Beijing Science and Technology News, Beijing Evening News WeChat Official Account, Shanghai Internet Rumors, Qianlong.com, Shangguan News, Science Rumors Platform