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Medical Myths from around the World 

Lecture 23

There are many claims that bee pollen is a superfood, an especially 
nutritious food. It is a really good food for the bees, and it does contain 
many useful nutrients. But years of research have not found any speci

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 c 

health bene

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 ts for humans. 

T

aking a broad cultural view might help put beliefs and myths into a 
broader perspective. Are there some common themes, or is it true that 
medical myths are speci

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 c to individual cultures? We’re going to take 

a look at some medical myths from around the world to try to put this all into 
a broader perspective.

Let’s start with the Korean fan death myth. There is a belief, unique to South 
Korea, that sleeping with an electric fan running overnight can result in 
death. Fans in South Korea, in fact, are made with a timer switch so that they 
will automatically shut themselves off in order to avoid this feared calamity. 
But is there any plausibility to this belief? 

There are several putative causes for what might cause harm or death from 
sleeping with a running fan. One is hypothermia—that the fan will cause 
someone to lose too much body heat, their body temperature will drop to 
dangerous levels, and their heart will stop. Another is that the fan will cause 
suffocation; it will interfere with the person’s ability to breathe. 

Is there any real risk from using a fan? In a very hot environment, relying 
entirely upon a fan may be insuf

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 cient. It can lead to hyperthermia and 

dehydration, which can be dangerous. While fans themselves do not present 
any risk, relying on a fan under the false assumption that it’s cooling a 
dangerously hot environment may pose some risk. 

Now we turn to Africa, where there are many human immunode

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 ciency 

virus (HIV) myths. HIV is at epidemic proportions in Africa, with an 
estimated 22.4 million infected people. Efforts to stem this epidemic rely 
heavily on the population having accurate information. HIV myths in Africa 

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Lecture 23: Medical Myths from around the W

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are therefore especially pernicious and are hampering attempts at controlling 
this dangerous epidemic.

One horrible myth surrounding HIV in Africa is that it can be cured by 
having sex with a virgin. This has led to much child rape and the spreading 
of HIV to children. It also may lead to the false belief that one has been 
cured, therefore leading to the further spread of HIV.

There’s also a belief called HIV denial. This is the denial of scienti

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evidence establishing that HIV is the cause of the clinical syndrome known 
as acquired immunode

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 ciency syndrome (AIDS). This myth is largely based 

on conspiracy theories—that there is a conspiracy among governments 
and pharmaceutical companies to sell medications or to decrease 
unwanted populations. 

HIV denial, while somewhat of a worldwide phenomenon, is especially 
harmful in Africa. Some of these HIV fears were tied to vaccines. There was 
speci

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 cally the myth that HIV was being spread by the West deliberately 

in the polio vaccine. This crippled vaccine efforts, especially in Nigeria. 
This decreased compliance with the polio vaccine led to the return of almost 
epidemic polio in Nigeria, which then spread to other countries, setting back 
eradication efforts by years, if not decades. 

To wrap up our world tour of medical myths, let’s look at one that originated 
entirely in the United States. Many people think that the caduceus is the 
symbol of the medical profession. The caduceus is essentially a staff with 
wings at the top that has 2 snakes winding around it. The caduceus is actually 
the wand of Hermes and has nothing in Greek mythology—or in any other 
mythology—to do with medicine or the healing arts.

The actual symbol of the medical profession is the staff of Aesculapius. 
Aesculapius is a Greek god and the son of Apollo. He was the god of 
medicine. His staff is a staff with no wings and a single snake wrapping 
around it. That staff is the symbol of medicine and was thought to be a healing 
staff. The mistake of confusing the caduceus for the staff of Aesculapius was 

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 rst made by the U.S. Army Medical Corps in the late 19

th

 century. Its spread 

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from there led to medical institutions and hospitals using the caduceus for 
decades, thinking that it was an appropriate symbol of medicine. 

In the middle of the 20

th

 century, the knowledge that the staff of Aesculapius 

was more appropriate began to take hold. The American Medical 

Association (AMA) now uses the 
staff of Aesculapius, and you may 
notice it painted on the back of 
ambulances. Even though this story 
isn’t really a health myth, it shows 
how one authoritative source can 
be responsible for the spread of 
misinformation. The spread of this 

misinformation to other sources like hospitals and the AMA lent it the further 
appearance of authority. This reinforces the notion that you need to question 
everything, even if it seems to be coming from a reliable source. 

Taking a look at these various myths, we see that cultures do vary, but people 
are fundamentally the same. Medical myths from around the world tend 
to have some similar themes. These themes include a desire for control, a 
desire to understand our health, and a desire to have a simple system by 
which we can understand and improve our health. Another common theme 
is that people who are ill may become desperate and seek out things to help 
their problems. I think that by looking at the various myths from around the 
world, we see that people are the same no matter where you go. 

Ŷ

Brenneman, 

Deadly Blessings

.

Epstein, 

The Invisible Cure

.

1. 

To what extent are medical myths the same or unique in 
various cultures?

2. 

Where in the world is HIV denial most prevalent and pernicious?

Medical myths from around 
the world tend to have some 
similar themes.

    Questions to Consider

    Suggested Reading

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Lecture 23: Medical Myths from around the W

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3. 

Why is the caduceus believed to be the symbol of the medical and 
healing professions? 

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Roundup—Decluttering Our Mental Closet 

Lecture 24

What about the notion that if you die in your dreams, then you will 
die in real life? ... This is contradicted by reported experiences where 
people actually do die in their dreams and then live to tell the tale. 
There is also no theoretical reason why we would expect that dying in 
one’s dream would cause someone to die in reality. 

W

e’ve taken a look at many medical myths over this course, some 
serious, others less so—hopefully all interesting. Some myths 
have a false reliance on authority. Others have a kernel of truth 

to them that is often misinterpreted or exaggerated. There are also some 
themes that seem to have been around forever and just won’t die; perhaps 
they appeal to something that’s fundamental about human psychology. In 
this last lecture, we make roundup of many medical myths. 

The 

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 rst myth is that you lose most of your body’s heat through your head. 

This notion is based on a 1970 U.S. Army survival manual claiming that 
40% to 45% of body heat is lost from the head. However, this study looked 
at soldiers who were wearing heavy coats and thermal gear everywhere 
except for their head. Where does heat loss actually occur? There are several 
mechanisms of heat loss in your body: One is the evaporation of sweat on 
your skin. We also radiate body heat away from us. 

We lose heat primarily through the entire surface area of our skin, but there 
are some places on the body where we lose more heat than others. These 
mainly include those parts of the body that stick out, like our hands, feet, 
nose, chin, and ears—but not especially our scalp or our heads. The bottom 
line is that it simply is a myth that you lose most of your heat through your 
head. You don’t even lose more heat through your head than through other 
parts of the body.

Let’s look at another simple myth you may have heard. Does cracking 
your knuckles cause arthritis or otherwise damage your joints? First, what 
causes the cracking sound? You are stretching the ligaments that hold your