Medical rumors: fact or fiction

By Jiang Yuxia Source:Global Times Published: 2012-12-12 20:35:05

 

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Shooting down the health rumors about breakfast, staying up late and eating late
Photos: CFP
Shooting down the health rumors about breakfast, staying up late and eating late Photos: CFP

Recently several health news stories reported on Chinese websites such as Xinhua and Chinanews have aroused concerns among Sina Weibo users. The ones getting the most buzz are about skipping breakfast causing gallstones, poor sleep patterns leading to infertility, and late-night dining habits producing stomach cancer.

While these stories have prompted discussions among health-conscious circles, the real medical basis of the claims is under question. Metro Beijing spoke with doctors to separate fact from fiction and suggest ways for a healthier lifestyle.

Habitual breakfast-skippers getting gallstones

News: A 21-year-old Chinese woman from Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, was reported last month to have found 30 gallstones in her gallbladder. One of the major reasons, according to her doctor, was that she had skipped breakfast for years. In addition, Chen Jing, 28, from Qingdao, Shandong Province, was also diagnosed last month with gallstones of about one millimeter in diameter after feeling stomach pain for over a month.

Doctors say: Gao Feng, a gastroenterologist at Qingdao Hiser Hospital, says human beings secrete about two liters of gall in 24 hours that is stored in the gallbladder. If a person skips breakfast, the gall will stay in the body which might cause cholecystitis. If it stays in the body for a long time it might turn into gallstones.

Dr Richard Saint Cyr, physician of family medicine at Beijing United Family Hospital, says that it's not a disease to have gallstones detected from an ultrasound. If you did an ultrasound of the entire population, a large percentage of perfectly healthy people would have gallstones, and most will never have any problems with their gallbladder. Sometimes the gallstones block the duct and cause inflammation, but many people can have gallstones their entire life and have no problems at all.

Conclusion: Myth. The short answer is that no, skipping breakfast doesn't directly cause gallbladder issues, but foregoing the meal is a terrible idea for many other more serious reasons, Dr Saint Cyr says. People, especially school children, who skip breakfast are much more likely to become overweight and also to develop diabetes. They also do worse in school! So if your child is cramming for the gaokao (China's national college entrance exam), you must encourage them to eat breakfast.

Many people are genetically at-risk for developing gallstones, but lifestyle choices also play a major role. A high-cholesterol diet is a major contributor. Gallstones are more common in women, especially those who are overweight and have had multiple pregnancies.

Staying up late and insufficient sleep causing infertility

News: A young couple in their early 30s from Dongguan, Guangdong Province, reportedly failed to conceive a baby after trying for one year. Both of them are healthy in terms of fertility, but one problem, their doctors found, was that they often stayed up late and don't get enough sleep.

Doctors say: According to doctors from Dongguan Kanghua Hospital, many factors can lead to low fertility, including polluted environment, stress from work, a fast-paced lifestyle and unhealthy habits like smoking and drinking.  

Dr Saint Cyr says that it's true that there is a troubling worldwide decrease in fertility as well as sperm counts in men. Clearly there are unknown environmental or societal changes making this happen, but no one yet is exactly sure of the major causes.

While there is no clear medical basis linking poor sleep directly to infertility, certainly getting a good night's sleep is crucial to a person's health and immune system, and fertility is very sensitive to immune system health. Poor sleep can cause many health problems including stress and depression, as well as more difficulty fighting off colds and the flu.

Conclusion: Almost fact. Fertility is affected by a huge amount of factors, and it's true that stress and poor sleep patterns can be one of many reasons why a couple is having trouble getting pregnant. Anyone trying to have a family should have a healthy diet, not smoke and exercise regularly.

Late night dining causes stomach cancer

News: A 23-year-old Chinese woman from Henan Province was recently diagnosed with stomach cancer. While she had little time for a proper lunch at work, she often had a big dinner in the evening, according to her doctor Wang Jufeng of Henan Cancer Hospital.

According to Wang, the population who are diagnosed with stomach cancer are getting younger in recent years, one of the common problem among them is disordered lifestyle and late-night eating habits.

Doctors say: Both doctors Hu Fulian and Zhou Liya, gastroenterologists of Peking University's First and Third hospitals, said there is no medical basis for the correlation. Hu said she's never had a patient whose stomach cancer was caused by that.

Conclusion: Myth. There are various reasons for stomach cancer, including a compromised immune system and disordered eating habits. But large dinners don't fall under disordered eating.



Posted in: Metro Beijing

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