Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [medical-science]

Use this tag for questions about the science of medicine and its practices. Use [medications] for questions about the actual cures that people take, and use [alternative-medicine] for claims about cures and practices which are claimed to be alternative to official medical science

Medical science is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness.

1257 questions
209
votes
1 answer

Is popping your knuckles bad for you?

I pop my knuckles fairly frequently, and I have been told on several occasions that doing so is bad for your joints. Is this true? Have there been any medical studies on this?
Peter Olson
  • 3,603
  • 2
  • 22
  • 23
166
votes
4 answers

Does being cold increase your chances of catching the common cold?

"Everyone knows" - a scary statement - that you get "a cold" from being cold. Now it seems to be a fact that you don't, because you get a cold from a (rhino)virus, not from the temperature. But is there any correlation between temperature and…
Nanne
  • 4,717
  • 2
  • 29
  • 26
113
votes
6 answers

Is alcohol beneficial in small amounts?

It's widely believed that consuming small amounts of alcohol has many health benefits. As a matter of fact, a lot of alcohol might be good for you, as Wired Magazine reports: It’s one of those medical anomalies that nobody can really explain:…
Patches
  • 8,162
  • 8
  • 44
  • 58
107
votes
6 answers

Is smoking weed bad for your health?

Some people believe that smoking marijuana (without any tobacco) is harmful to your health and may cause problems. Examples of things I've heard weed supposedly causes: All the health problems of tobacco (cancer, strokes, etc) You get addicted to…
smzs
  • 2,783
  • 4
  • 19
  • 8
107
votes
1 answer

Has the cure to cancer been hidden by pharmaceutical companies?

I've heard a theory that given the widespread incidence of cancer, a cancer cure probably already exists but has been hidden by major pharmaceutical companies to maximise revenue from expensive cancer treatment, since a cure would be one-off but…
Huey
  • 1,131
  • 2
  • 7
  • 12
90
votes
4 answers

Do COVID-19 vaccines cause two deaths for every three deaths they prevent?

There is this new study that came out, alleging, that COVID-19 vaccines cause two deaths for every three deaths they prevent, which sounds pretty bad. I was wondering how valid this analysis is and what other view points exist on the…
user1721135
  • 2,706
  • 4
  • 17
  • 24
88
votes
6 answers

Do mobile phones have anything to do with brain cancer?

Is there evidence for a correlation between the use of mobile phones and the occurence of brain cancer? If yes, is there also evidence for causality?
user288
87
votes
4 answers

Does drinking diluted chlorine dioxide protect against COVID-19?

I read a bit about drinking diluted chlorine dioxide (e.g. 12mg/L) as a supposedly protective means against COVID-19. Apparently it is a widespread belief in Latin America, especially on social media, that this is a good alternative to getting…
oskros
  • 747
  • 1
  • 4
  • 11
87
votes
1 answer

Does continuous drinking of lemon juice have any negative effect on bones?

I came across a blog post from a beauty blog titled Beware: Lemons Can Harm You In Ways You Didn't Know. [Archived Page] One of the points mentioned was The continuous use of lemon juice can actually melt your bones in the long run. So, beware of…
user56730
84
votes
2 answers

Do rusty nail wounds cause tetanus?

My Mother and aunties always asked with alarm how I got even a minor scratch when I was young. If an injury was caused by anything rusty, I was to be transported immediately to the doctor for a "tetanus shot" so I would not get "lockjaw". Do…
Logic Knight
  • 1,419
  • 1
  • 11
  • 16
83
votes
1 answer

Are female surgeons less likely to kill you?

A 2017 article in The Times has the following headline: Female surgeons less likely to kill you, study finds The article reports: Patients operated on by a woman are less likely to die within a month than those who have the procedure under a male…
matt_black
  • 56,186
  • 16
  • 175
  • 373
82
votes
3 answers

Are there vaccine ingredients which may not be disclosed ("hidden", "trade secret", or similar)?

I sometimes encounter people claiming that there are ingredients in vaccines that can be kept secret by the manufacturer. I would be surprised to hear this, because the manufacturers have to conduct studies which show that the vaccine is safe. How…
akraf
  • 1,471
  • 2
  • 12
  • 15
81
votes
1 answer

Did the U.S. Army treat a President's cold using chlorine gas?

Several texts on the history of chemical warfare mention the story that in May 1924 the U.S. Army Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) treated President Calvin Coolidge for a severe cold with chlorine. For example: In May 1924 the CWS sealed President…
user22213
79
votes
3 answers

Does Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS) exist?

A recent article from Daily Mail cited the case of a woman claiming to be allergic to Wi-Fi, and that it could even kill her. This claim sounded ridiculous and absurd to me. Quoting parts of the exact text: Jackie Lindsey, 50, claims she has…
Victor Stafusa - BozoNaCadeia
  • 1,385
  • 2
  • 12
  • 12
79
votes
3 answers

Is it possible to "die instantly"?

Lots of times, when some great tragedy occurs, one often hears journalists and bystanders alike softening the blow of having some person die by saying something like "at least they died instantly" or "they died instantly, so they didn't suffer."…
Uticensis
  • 3,783
  • 4
  • 26
  • 35
1
2 3
…
83 84