Hoax Museum Blog: Health/Medicine

Gas Be Gone — Dan wonders if these 'Gas Be Gone' flatulence filter seat cushions are real or a joke. I've never actually seen one of these, but I've been aware of them for quite a while, and I think they're real. But the maker of them does appear to acknowledge the humor inherent in a flatulence filter.

Tattoo Medical Alerts — Miami company sells tattoo-like stickers to elderly people, claiming that the stickers will function as high-tech medical alert devices. But it turns out that the stickers weren't high-tech at all. They were just stickers.

Cough CPR Update — A visitor named Lewy sent in a link to this ABC News story about 'Cough CPR' following up on my post about the subject below. It turns out that a Polish researcher, Dr. Tadeusz Petelenz, published some results just a few weeks ago suggesting that vigorous coughing could help people experiencing cardiac arrest remain conscious long enough to get help. But the jury still seems to be out on the subject. The UK Resuscitation Council says that there's no evidence coughing is going to help. The basic problem is that if you do the cough CPR, you've got to time the coughs exactly right, or you could actually make the heart attack worse. An emergency nurse named Richard Muth has written a good summary of the few instances when coughing actually CAN be helpful for heart problems (they all involve being in a hospital).

Will coughing help ease a heart attack? — An email has been going around claiming that vigorous coughing can help you survive a heart attack. I received it, and to be honest I thought it sounded pretty believable. I should have known better. According to heart specialists, coughing won't make a heart attack any worse, but it's also not going to make it any better. Just another example of why you shouldn't believe medical advice you get from forwarded emails. The proper thing to do if you think you're having a heart attack is to take some aspirin.

Fake Doctor Notes (are not available here) — Need a fake note from a doctor to get a day off from work or school? Visit this doctor.
Update: If you've arrived here via Google, or some other link, realize that I can't actually provide anyone with a fake doctor's note. I simply linked to an article about a guy who was writing fake notes, and because of that my site is now #1 on google when you type 'fake doctor notes'. I have no idea where fake doctor notes can be obtained.

Goat-Gland Brinkley — Great article in the New York Press detailing the career of Dr. 'Goat-Gland' Brinkley, the man who made a fortune during the 1920s and '30s by selling a quack cure for male impotence that involved the implantation of goat glands. Incidentally Brinkley became so popular and such a powerful figure in American culture that he ran for governor of Kansas and would have won if the Democrats and Republicans hadn't rigged the election.

Medical Imposters — Interesting story in the Toronto Star about a man who was practicing medicine with fake credentials. But he didn't receive a single complaint about his practice. He was only exposed when the Ontario College of Physicians did a thorough check of the credentials of all medical practitioners in the area. It recalls the case of the Great Imposter, Ferdinand Waldo Demara, who once posed as a naval surgeon named Dr. Joseph Cyr and actually performed a lung operation on an injured soldier, even though he had never had a day of surgical training in his life. The operation was a success. He was only discovered to be a fake because someone recognized his picture when it appeared in a naval newsletter.

CDC Website — The Center for Disease Control has a Health Related Hoaxes and Rumors page. Worth checking out.

Cow Urine Cures AIDS — From the files of medical quackery: cow urine as a cure for AIDS.