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Tag: Myths

  • Halloween Candy: Death by Poison, Needles, Razor Blades, and Other Myths

    Every October the tales get trotted out. Somebody knows a guy who had a cousin who knew a kid who died from poisoned Halloween candy. Parents warn their kids to not eat anything they are given that is not in a sealed manufacturer’s package.

    Almost gone entirely are the days of homemade cookies, fudge, apples, popcorn balls, and other perfectly legit Halloween treats. Only weird old people who don’t know any better are still handing out “unsafe” treats, apparently unaware that the parents of those kids will just throw their offerings away.

    It sounds like the candy manufacturers are all alone in the Halloween field, doesn’t it?

    There may be several good reasons to not eat something homemade that is received on Halloween. But tales of poisoned or otherwise tampered treats should not be one of them.

    In the 1980s, we heard it every year: vigilant parents were horrified to find apples with razor blades in them; kids were falling ill, and doctors were blaming poisoned Halloween candy. News stations carried the warnings as diligently as they reminded us to set our clocks up and back.

    Malls opened their doors so that kids could have a “safe” Halloween. Churches planned parking lot Halloween events with trunks full of store-bought candies.

    But the problem is, it was all bull. Only a very few incidents of candy tampering have ever been reported, and they all have been very isolated and easily discovered.

    There are a couple of reports of children being poisoned by their own parents, one accidentally and one who tried to get insurance money. Those parents claimed their children got poisoned Halloween candy. They were found out and prosecuted.

    Some think that one of the reasons that the 1980s saw such a rise in Halloween paranoia was due to the Tylenol poisonings in 1982. Those were real. But the ‘80s saw a lot of fear over nothing: warnings about blotter acid handed out to kids as cartoon temporary tattoos, atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair coming for your kids, and Satanist “back-masking” in the music.

    It was a scary time. And it was all baloney. Even the evil old Soviet Union turned out to be a big joke. Just like KISS (“Knights In Satan’s Service”, ya know.)

    Police did report an incident in 2000 where parents found Snickers wrappers stuffed with marijuana in their kids’ bags. Police traced the candy to one home, and learned that the man worked in the dead letter office for the postal service. He had found the items and brought them home to give out for Halloween, unaware that they were actually someone’s attempt at smuggling pot through the mail.

  • ADHD Myths Still Taint Public Opinion and Marginalize Sufferers

    Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, gets a lot of undeserved flack. Stories abound about college students getting a quick ADHD diagnosis from a pill mill doctor, then hoarding Ritalin to sell or to snort for all-nighter study sessions.

    Until medical marijuana came along in California and took the top spot as a joke medical regimen, professing to have ADHD got winks, chuckles and nods from some. It got disbelieving eye rolling and resistance from others, wary of stories about zombie-like kids in schools all across the country.

    But for people who legitimately deal with ADHD symptoms daily, it is a very real thing that can wreck their lives, their finances, their education, and their families. Many children and adults work hard to get a handle on the facts of their condition. They educate themselves, they gather tools and techniques to help them cope and thrive, and, yes, they take Ritalin and Adderall, the two most prescribed drugs for the condition.

    Contrary to popular belief and much-circulated tales, both Ritalin (methylphenidate) and Adderall (amphetamine/dextroamphetamine) are not depressants that calm hyperactivity. They are stimulants, specifically psychostimulants. Both are used to compensate for a deficiency of dopamine, and to a lesser degree, norepinephrine, in the brain.

    Persons properly diagnosed with ADHD can choose to use medicines to aid their adjustment, but it is always recommended that they be part of an overall plan that includes other tools and techniques. These can include organizational methods, lists, calendars, clocks and watches, reminders, and many other aids.

    But even with great effort in these areas, many choose to add medicines like Ritalin and Adderall to their regimen, often with pleasing results.

    Stories about “Ritalin kids” who walk around in a daze are far too often really due to misdiagnosed or misdosed patients. Maladies such as fetal alcohol syndrome and others can be easily mistaken for ADHD. To medicate someone for ADHD who does not legitimately have it often causes undesirable results. Likewise, to not have a legitimate ADHD sufferer on the right medication, or the wrong dose size, often causes unfavorable results. Once dosages are properly adjusted, and proper hydration is observed, patients often do quite well.

    Some states are concerned that more and more children on the state Medicaid rolls are diagnosed with ADHD. Children covered by Medicaid are 50% more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than those on traditional insurances. Some see this as an epidemic of misdiagnosis. They believe that non-medicinal therapeutic treatments should be tried first, resorting to medicine only when those fall short.

    But the reasons that children on Medicaid are diagnosed with ADHD more often are certainly not known to be misdiagnosis. There is a lot that is not known about ADHD. How much does diet affect it? What about food additives? Are there other environmental factors that come into play?

    And how might the diets and environments of our nation’s poorest people fall into categories of risk more than those with money to eat better and live in better areas? This is already an acknowledged factor in the meteoric rise of obesity among the poor.

    These things are unknowns. To presume that the atypical increase in ADHD diagnosis is in error — and to change public policy about Medicaid spending based on that presumption — is premature.

    Medical professionals acknowledge the rise of ADHD diagnoses. They often will explain this by saying that diagnostic techniques are better now. People who used to be diagnosed with other maladies are now better understood to have ADHD.

    But some suspect that pharmaceutical companies are behind the rise in ADHD diagnoses, that they are pushing their drugs to parents.

    Dr. Jeffrey A. Lieberman wrote for Medscape.com:

    “It is hard to know how much of the increase is attributable to [pharmaceutical] marketing, but other factors contributing to the increased rate in the United States must be considered. These reasons are more sociological than financial or clinical.”

    Lieberman asserts that there is increasing pressure upon parents and schools to get to the bottom of why their child may be underperforming, and some may grasp for a diagnosis and medicinal aid to fix the problem. But, in the end, doctors are still the gatekeepers of such drugs, and must exercise discretion in prescribing.

    “Psychostimulant drugs are effective for people who genuinely need them, but at the same time they can be dangerous and are associated with a high risk for abuse when they are used inappropriately. It is up to doctors to be extremely rigorous in their evaluation and establishment of the diagnosis and in their use of these treatments.”

  • Four Asthma Myths You Should Stop Spreading

    When summer weeds and pollen are at their peak, asthma sufferers just wish they could stay inside the rest of the season. If you know someone with asthma, it is helpful if you understand the difficulty they go through. But there are also some common myths about asthma that you should know about so you can help when help is needed.

    Myth: Asthma Sufferers Shouldn’t Exercise

    When non-sufferers think of exercise, they think of all the heavy breathing that aerobic exercise involves. It may be tempting to think that this is bad for asthma sufferers. In fact, for most sufferers, exercise can help. Regular exercise can help improve lung function. It can also help in maintaining a healthy body weight, which aids breathing.

    Myth: Asthma Medications are Addictive

    The medications themselves are not addictive. However, since asthma is a chronic disease, sufferers commonly use their medication once or twice a day on a regimen. While rescue inhalers are used only as needed, maintenance medications are intended to be taken regularly. This is not an addiction, but rather a prescribed maintenance schedule that can help prevent the need for emergency medications and treatment in most sufferers.

    Myth: Rescue Inhaler Steroids are the Same as Athletic Steroids

    Steroids used by asthma sufferers are corticosteroids, which are anti-inflammatory drugs. Those sometimes used by athletes are anabolic steroids.

    Myth: Asthma is a Psychological Condition

    Asthma is a physical problem. The sufferer’s lungs and immune system over-react to irritants and other triggers in the air. While some stressors may aggravate this reaction more than usual, the problem is still one of the immune system, not a mental one.

    Image via YouTube

  • Slender Man Story Leads To Two Girls Stabbing Their Friend 19 Times

    On Monday, two 12-year-old girls from Waukesha, Wisconsin were charged as adults for the attempted first-degree intentional homicide of another 12-year-old girl.

    What caused these girls to want to kill one of their best friends? According to police, the girls stabbed the other girl nearly to death to please a mythological creature known as the “Slender Man.”

    The girls claimed to have learned about Slender Man on creepypasta.wikia.com; a site dedicated to horror stories.

    According to the site, Slender Man’s “appearance is that of an abnormally tall human with long arms and no face whom is wearing a business suit.” He has no eyes, mouth, or any other facial features, and is generally over six-feet tall.

    One of the attackers explained that they had planned the attack for months to please the Slender Man so that he would allow them to live with him in the fictional Nicolet National Forest.

    They invited their friend to a slumber party over the weekend, and planned on killing her that night so that they would not have to look into her eyes. They later decided to put it off, but the next day they got together to play hide and seek, and decided they would attack her then.

    One girl told the other to “go ballistic, go crazy.” The girls then stabbed their “friend” 19 times before leaving her to die; one of the stab wounds missed the victim’s heart by only a millimeter.

    The victim stumbled away from the girls, shouting that she hated them, and somehow managed to crawl out of the woods. She was later found by a passing bicyclist, who called the police. The victim was rushed to the hospital and into surgery and, as of Monday, she was listed as being in stable condition.

    The attackers were each given a $500,000 bond, and if they are convicted, they could face up to sixty five years in prison.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Six Myths reddit Would Like to Clear Up

    Six Myths reddit Would Like to Clear Up

    Although only 6% of American adults use reddit, teen users and international appeal has helped turn the site into one of the most powerful forces on the internet – both in terms of influence and as a content distribution device. Last month, reddit boasted over 67 million unique visitors who viewed nearly 4.7 billion pages. There’s no denying that it’s a behemoth.

    On Tuesday, reddit admins took to their blog to try and clear up some myths and common misconceptions about the site. Mainly that it’s not some giant company, it’s definitely spelt “reddit” (with a lowercase r), and it’s not readying for an IPO – in fact, it’s not even profitable yet. Here are of the top myths that reddit addressed:

    1. reddit is swimming in cash. In reality, reddit says that they are not yet profitable – something they’ve addressed before on numerous occasions.
    2. reddit is prepping to go public. “[G]oing public (IPO) means having to answer to short-term shareholders and irrational market pressures. We don’t want to risk either of those,” they say.
    3. reddit is owned by Conde Nast. The reality is that they used to be, but that all changed in 2012. “reddit was spun out into a re-incorporated independent entity with its own board and control of its own finances,” says the company.
    4. reddit is massive and employs tons of people. Only if you consider 28 employees to be a massive company. Oh, and just FYI, 32% of them enjoy pulpy orange juice (gross).
    5. reddit pays celebs to do AMAs. Nope, they say. “We explain that an AMA is something that anyone with a notable life experience can do, and we may offer them help for free, in which “help” consists of helping schedule AMAs or explaining what an AMA really is and how to execute an AMA well – from signing up for a reddit account to what to expect from the audience to how much time they should try to set aside. We don’t accept payment for any of this – AMAs are by and for the community.”
    6. reddit is actually Reddit. Lowercase all the way, baby.

    The more you know.

  • Myth Busted: Do Teachers Get “Summers Off”?

    Myth Busted: Do Teachers Get “Summers Off”?

    Every teacher has, at some point, had someone lament to him/her about how they wish their job paid them to “take the summer off”. Most of the time this statement is not made with any sort of ill intent, but rather with a sense of jealousy. It may even be made by a friend who wishes they “had it so good”.

    But statements like these reveal just how widespread the myth is that teachers “get paid” to take summer vacations.

    In a recent article in Take Part, the fact that many teachers actually do work during the summer was explored. The author pointed out that, “Many teachers stay and teach summer school or provide new coursework for students who want to get a headstart on the next year.”

    She also mentioned professional development courses, that many teachers are required to take, and how these are commonly only available during the summer. Teachers reorganize classrooms, clean them out for summer janitorial work, etc.

    But even then, some would argue that teachers still take an average of four days per summer week off entirely for eight weeks. And that may be true. But there is one huge point that you seldom ever see anyone talk about in the discussion about teacher work schedules.

    In many states, teachers are under contract. Such contracts are renewed each school year, with any changes that need to be made in their terms. Those contracts do not run for one full year. They run for nine months.

    But don’t teachers continue to collect paychecks for the whole summer? Sometimes they do. But doing so is really a matter of a feature offered by the local Board of Education. A teacher, by default, collects paychecks for the nine months she is under contract. If she chooses, the payroll department with stretch those nine months of paychecks out to a twelve month period, keeping regular deposits coming during summer for ease of personal budgeting for the teacher. Or the teacher can take the actual higher individual checks during the school year, and then collect nothing over the summer.

    Essentially, if a teacher expects to return the following year, she is working though the summer for free to prepare for her own return, stock up on required personal development hours for the coming year, etc. But, unless that teacher is tenured and is guaranteed a return to her job the following school year, she is done when her contract expires each year. And in many places that contract is for nine months.