Viral BS: Medical Myths and Why We Fall for Them

by Seema Yasmin

Overview

Dissecting the biggest medical myths and pseudoscience, Viral BS explores how misinformation can spread faster than microbes.

Can your zip code predict when you will die? Should you space out childhood vaccines? Does talcum powder cause cancer? Why do some doctors recommend e-cigarettes while other doctors recommend you stay away from them? Health information—and misinformation—is all around us, and it can be hard to separate the two. A long history of unethical medical experiments and medical mistakes, along with a host of celebrities spewing anti-science beliefs, has left many wary of science and the scientists who say they should be trusted. How do we stay sane while unraveling the knots of fact and fiction to find out what we should really be concerned about, and what we can laugh off?

In Viral BS, journalist, doctor, professor, and CDC-trained disease detective Seema Yasmin, driven by a need to set the record straight, dissects some of the most widely circulating medical myths and pseudoscience. Exploring how epidemics of misinformation can spread faster than microbes, Dr. Yasmin asks why bad science is sometimes more believable and contagious than the facts. Each easy-to-read chapter covers a specific myth, whether it has endured for many years or hit the headlines more recently. Dr. Yasmin explores such pressing questions as

• Do cell phones, Nutella, or bacon cause cancer?
• Are we running out of antibiotics?
• Does playing football cause brain disease?
• Is the CDC banned from studying guns?
• Do patients cared for by female doctors live longer?
• Is trauma inherited?
• Is suicide contagious?

and much more.

Taking a deep dive into the health and science questions you have always wanted answered, this authoritative and entertaining book empowers readers to reach their own conclusions. Viral BS even comes with Dr. Yasmin's handy Bulls*%t Detection Kit.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421440408
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	01/12/2021
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	636,689
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Dr. Seema Yasmin is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, Pulitzer Prize finalist, professor, and author. She served as a disease detective in the Epidemic Intelligence Service after working as a hospitalist in London. She was a medical analyst for CNN through the Ebola, Zika, and Covid epidemics, and a science reporter at The Dallas Morning News. Dr. Yasmin is director of the Stanford Health Communication Initiative and clinical assistant professor of medicine at Stanford University. She is the author of eight books including Viral BS: Medical Myths and Why We Fall For Them, The ABCs of Queer History, If God Is A Virus: Poems, and Djinnology: An Illuminated Compendium of Spirits and Stories from the Muslim World.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Do the flat tummy detox teas touted by Instagram celebrities actually work?
2. Should you eat your baby's placenta?
3. Do vaccines cause autism?
4. Can autism be cured?
5. Are children being paralyzed by the common cold virus?
6. Do we inherit trauma from our parents?
7. Are genetically modified foods safe?
8. How long can you eat leftovers?
9. Is MSG addictive?
10. Is drinking diet soda linked to Alzheimer's disease and stroke?
11. Do mammograms cause more problems than they detect?
12. Is it dangerous to be pregnant in America?
13. The raging statin debate: Should you take a cholesterol-lowering drug?
14. Does aspirin prevent cancer?
15. Did the maker of aspirin test medicines in Nazi concentration camps?
16. Does the birth control pill cause depression?
17. Do vitamin D supplements protect against obesity, cancer, and pneumonia?
18. Will fish oil supplements prevent heart disease or give you cancer?
19. Are heartburn medicines linked to a serious gut infection?
20. Were dietary supplements linked to a deadly outbreak of hepatitis?
21. Can gay and bisexual men donate blood?
22. Are e-cigarettes helpful or harmful?
23. Is marijuana a performance-enhancing drug for athletes?
24. Did a morning sickness pill for pregnant women cause birth defects in thousands of babies?
25. Is there lead in your lipstick?
26. Why do immigrants in America live longer than American-born people?
27. Has the US government banned research about gun violence?
28. The Frackademia Scandal: Did oil and gas companies pay academics to say fracking was safe?
29. Does playing American football give players brain damage?
30. Did the US government infect people with syphilis and gonorrhea?
31. Does talcum powder cause ovarian cancer?
32. Does infection with Ebola cause lifelong symptoms?
33. Are older adults at higher risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections?
34. Did genetically modified mosquitoes spread Zika, and does the virus cause birth defects?
35. Can your cat's poop make you better at business?
36. Is suicide contagious?
37. Are suicide rates linked to the economy?
38. Are there more suicides during the holiday season?
39. Are you more likely to die from a medical mistake than from a car crash?
40. Is it dangerous to go to the hospital in July?
41. Do patients cared for by female doctors live longer?
42. Can a pill make racists less racist?
43. Are airplane condensation trails, aka chemtrails, bad for your health?
44. Do bad teeth cause heart disease?
45. Can your zip code predict when you will die?
46. Does debunking a myth help it spread?
Dr. Yasmin's Bullshit Detection Kit
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Index

What People are Saying About This

Melody Moezzi

Brilliant, hilarious, infuriating, and illuminating, Viral BS is essential reading for anyone with a brain and internet access.

Peter J. Hotez

I could listen to Seema Yasmin forever. Her background in medicine and communications with first-hand experience in the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) at the CDC, make Dr. Yasmin a formidable presence in the public domain during these times of COVID-19. She sets a gold standard on how to convey tough news.

Dorit Rubinstein Reiss

Addressing a whole range of claims related to medicine and science, Viral BS draws on good evidence to explain what is and is not true and explore why people believe misinformation. A fun, practical book written in an engaging, personal style.

From the Publisher

Listen, I'm an actress who's lived in LA over 20 years. Obviously, I love to charge my crystals by the light of a full moon while dabbing essential oils behind my ears! But when it comes to my actual health, and my family's health, I don't need the wellness woo words of an Instagram influencer, I need a real doctor to tell me what is up. And I would trust Dr. Seema Yasmin with my life, and I have. She's brilliant!
—Busy Philipps

I could listen to Seema Yasmin forever. Her background in medicine and communications with first-hand experience in the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) at the CDC, make Dr. Yasmin a formidable presence in the public domain during these times of COVID-19. She sets a gold standard on how to convey tough news.
—Peter J. Hotez, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine

Examining myths and pseudoscience across multiple domains—including medicine, culture, climate, and nutrition—Viral BS will appeal to anyone who is interested in getting at the truth.
—Anna Lembke, MD, author of Drug Dealer, MD: How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It's So Hard to Stop

Addressing a whole range of claims related to medicine and science, Viral BS draws on good evidence to explain what is and is not true and explore why people believe misinformation. A fun, practical book written in an engaging, personal style.
—Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, University of California, Hastings College of Law

Brilliant, hilarious, infuriating, and illuminating, Viral BS is essential reading for anyone with a brain and internet access.
—Melody Moezzi, author of The Rumi Prescription: How an Ancient Mystic Poet Changed My Modern Manic Life

Anna Lembke

Examining myths and pseudoscience across multiple domains—including medicine, culture, climate, and nutrition—Viral BS will appeal to anyone who is interested in getting at the truth.

Busy Philipps

Listen, I'm an actress who's lived in LA over 20 years. Obviously, I love to charge my crystals by the light of a full moon while dabbing essential oils behind my ears! But when it comes to my actual health, and my family's health, I don't need the wellness woo words of an Instagram influencer, I need a real doctor to tell me what is up. And I would trust Dr. Seema Yasmin with my life, and I have. She's brilliant!

Editorial Reviews

[Yasmin] analyzes the pseudoscience that becomes hard to shake and reviews related research that presents the truth. The antidote is easy to swallow, thanks to Yasmin's approach.
—Science News

From the Publisher

Reviewer: Paul Urbanski, PhD, MSSW (Monmouth University School of Social Work)
Description: This book provides brief (three- to eight-page) chapters that are focused on an array of medical myths. It presents the material in language that is both friendly to the layperson while grounding the discussion in past and current scientific research. It explains the complex nature of human physiology and medical research that can lead to life-saving vaccines and expose snake oil scams that lead to health risks for consumers.
Purpose: The purpose of the book is to help the general public understand how scientists work to understand the complex nature of human physiology and ongoing efforts to provide safe and effective remedies that counter viruses, treat or prevent cancers, while at the same time, present reliable research findings to the general public to avoid the dangers of unsubstantiated product claims and medical myths that can lead to life-threatening consequences.
Audience: The author has made the content accessible to the layperson while providing students, practitioners, and members of the scientific community adequate detail in explaining the complexity of humans. The author is a credible source, with a medical degree from the University of Cambridge and who has served at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention investigating disease outbreaks and has won an Emmy for her work as a health reporter.
Features: Focusing on medical myths, the book covers an array of public health issues such as e-cigarettes, sport risks for traumatic brain injuries, the safety of everyday products such as lipstick, aspirin, herbal teas, and birth control pills. The author also goes back in time to uncover the sources of many of the medical myths that continue to circulate and should be familiar to most readers.
Assessment: Our inclination to buy into myths, accept hearsay, and question science concerning our health has been especially evident during the recent pandemic. This book provides a valuable resource for those curious to know the stories behind myths. The author piques readers' interest in how these myths arise and demonstrates the critical process needed for evaluating whether the myths are true or false. She also cautions that there is still much to learn about ourselves and the world around us. The final chapter presents a useful tool that can help us think critically about the science and myths we encounter and arrive at a place that supports our personal health and the public's health as well.

Doody's Review Service

[Yasmin] analyzes the pseudoscience that becomes hard to shake and reviews related research that presents the truth. The antidote is easy to swallow, thanks to Yasmin's approach.

Science News