Some Science and Medical Myths are Tough to Correct

Last month the journal Nature published a news article, The science myths that will not die. It lists five myths that, while based on a kernel of truth, are actually false. They are:

1. Screening saves lives for all types of cancer
2. Antioxidants are good and free radicals are bad
3. Humans have exceptionally large brains
4. Individuals learn best when taught in their preferred learning style
5. The human population is growing exponentially (and we're doomed)

Myths can extend into the history of science as well, as a linked article from 2013 illustrates. Most of it revolves around Joseph Meister, the first person saved from rabies by a vaccine made by Louis Pasteur. The story goes that when the Nazis invaded Paris, they asked Meister, who was working as a caretaker at the Pasteur Institute, the location of Pasteur's grave. In an act of loyalty, Meister shot and killed himself rather than give up the location of the tomb.

However, newer research tells a very different and more tragic tale. (Those darn revisionist historians!) As the Nazis approached Paris, Meister sent his wife and children away. Believing that they had been killed in a bombing campaign, he committed suicide by gas a few hours before they returned. Eugene Wollman, a scientist at the Pasteur Institute, wrote of this in his diary, "Life has an extraordinarily refined cruelty."

Anyway, back to the first article: It is accompanied by a box where Nature lists the myths most frustrating to doctors and scientists polled by Nature.

1. Vaccines cause autism
2. Paracetamol (acetaminophen) works through known mechanisms
3. The brain is walled off from the immune system
4. Homeopathy works.

OK, really? The idea that acetaminophen works through known mechanisms frustrates doctors and scientists? I guess I fell for this one in that I assumed the mechanism of acetaminophen's actions were known. But how on earth does this rise to such levels of irritation as to be listed with vaccines/autism and homeopathy? Is this just a thing among pharmacologists? Does anybody out there know?

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