Urban Legends and Other Hoaxes

I'm all moved in to my new place in New York! The boxes are unpacked (well, all except for that one in the corner), the kitchen organized (except for the fact that I can't reach anything on the top shelves), and the curtains up (although later today I have to see about hanging blinds, because I'm not QUITE sure my sheer white curtains aren't transparent from the outside). In general, though, I'm now officially a New Yorker!

Now, on to those medical "facts" that are floating around the internet and shared at dinner tables everywhere.

How can you tell if a medical story is true or just an urban legend? Should you believe that e-mail from your best friend's mom? What about the story you heard from your neighbor, or the medical disaster that supposedly happened to your co-worker's cousin? I know of two web sites that do a great job of tracking modern myths. They print the original e-mail, article, or story and then reveal what is or isn't true. Both sites cite their sources, so you can double-check their research.

When I get one of those "health warning!" emails, I usually turn first to the Urban Legends page on About.com. I almost always find the story I'm looking for, along with a well-researched response. I've noticed some lower-quality entries lately, with information I felt the need to double check--but since the articles offer links to other reports and experts' sites, About.com is still a good place to start.

Snopes.com is maintained by a husband-and-wife team who've made it their mission to track and investigate urban myths. The site owners check the stories' validity and provide all their sources at the end of each article. The site is extensive, and the writing is good and usually feels balanced. If there's some truth to the story, Snopes.com will let you know.

Scambusters.com, which publishes a free newsletter on internet fraud, also has a section on Urban Legends. The site claims to tell you if a story is true or not. It's a fun place to visit if you're curious about what's out there, but the entries are brief and no sources are given.

By the way, in case you were wondering... No, you're not likely to contract necrotizing fasciitis (flesh-eating bacteria) from imported Costa Rican bananas. Yes, there actually is a reported case of someone dying as a result of eating outdated pancake mix. It's in the September, 2000, issue of the American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology. As for the rumor that deodorant causes breast cancer... the truth is, researchers aren't quite sure if there's a connection, or what it might be. Check here for the National Cancer Institute's take.