Everything you know is wrong

doi:10.1136/bmj.a3027

Published 18 December 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a3027
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a3027

Editor's Choice

Everything you know is wrong

Tony Delamothe, deputy editor, BMJ

tdelamothe{at}bmj.com

The hit of last year’s Christmas issue was Rachel Vreemanand Aaron Carroll’s demolition of medical myths, whichgarnered 21 A4 pages of media mentions within a month of publication.This year the same authors target myths with a seasonal flavour(doi:10.1136/bmj.a2769). A dispiriting message is that thereare still no genuine hangover cures—other than to consumealcohol only in moderation or not at all. At this time of year,it may be a small consolation to know that you can mix alcoholwith antibiotics (other than metronidazole), although most attendersat a London clinic still mistakenly believe that you shouldn’t(doi:10.1136/bmj.a2885).

The debunking of myths emerges as the main theme of this year’sChristmas issue. Welshman Gareth Payne and colleagues use sophisticatedepidemiological tools to disprove the urban myth that everytime Wales win the rugby grand slam, a Pope dies—exceptfor 1978, when Wales were really good, and two Popes died (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2768).

In his whistle stop tour of 150 years of medical education inthe UK, Peter Rubin shows that any past golden age can onlyhave been mythical (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2778). Discontented juniorshave long been threatening to emigrate or give up medicine entirely.Far from medical students being the most gifted of their generation,a worrying proportion of the current English contingent can’ttell their left from their right (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2826). Andtheir Danish counterparts aren’t obviously much sharper:Stefan Burgdorf and colleagues found that half would fail theDanish citizenship test (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2912).

Going back to the nineteenth century, Oliver Twist’s heartrending pleas for more food seem to have no basis in fact: analysisof contemporary workhouse dietaries suggest that the littlewhinger would have had enough to eat (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2722;see bmj.com for a specially commissioned seasonal video). KeithWilliams upends a bedpan over the myths surrounding FlorenceNightingale, the Angel of Scutari (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2889). Forher manipulation of the sensationalist newspapers of the day(and theirs of her), Williams labels her "the first media-createdcelebrity," which is why she adorns our Hello-style cover.

While there’s nothing mythical about the dangers of climbingEverest (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2654) what is one to make of the helpfulapparitions that appear to exhausted mountaineers (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2667)?On our Christmas podcast, Jeremy Windsor fleshes out his accountof meeting "Jimmy" on his final ascent of Everest.

For those feeling disorientated, this issue also confirms somecherished beliefs. The amount of bumf we receive through ourletter boxes really is increasing exponentially (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2864).The younger generation of doctors really are less courteousthan their seniors, at least when it comes to requesting radiographs(doi:10.1136/bmj.a2895). As you probably suspected, serioushead banging is likely to leave you dazed and confused—ifyou must rock in time with the music, choose something by RichardClayderman rather than Mötley Crüe (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2825).And while research backs up the folklore that Coca-Cola hasspermicidal properties, Deborah Anderson warns against usingit in douches in her article (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2873) and inour podcast. Also available from our Christmas podcast is aninterview with Edzard Ernst, who performed a systematic reviewof the medical effects of Frankincense—one of the veryfirst Christmas presents (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2813). You’llfind all our podcasts at http://podcasts.bmj.com. Starting nextmonth, we’ll be producing one every week.

Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a3027

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