Reading in dim light won't damage your eyes, you don't need eight glasses of water a day to stay healthy and shaving your legs won't make the hair grow back faster.

在昏暗的燈光下看書不會(huì)傷害眼睛;每天也不必喝八杯水來保持健康;剃掉腿毛也不會(huì)讓它長得更快。

These well-worn theories are among seven "medical myths" exposed in a paper published in the British Medical Journal.

這些老生常談在《英國醫(yī)學(xué)雜志》的一篇論文中被列入七項(xiàng)“醫(yī)學(xué)誤區(qū)”。

Two U.S. researchers, Aaron Carroll and Rachel Vreeman, took seven common beliefs and searched the archives for evidence to support them.

阿倫-卡羅爾和雷切爾-弗里曼是來自美國的兩位研究人員，他們選定了七個(gè)普遍共識(shí)，搜尋了大量卷宗來尋找支持它們的證據(jù)。

Despite frequent mentions in the popular press of the need to drink eight glasses of water, they found no scientific basis for the claim. The other six "myths" are:

盡管大眾媒體經(jīng)常提到每天要喝八杯水，但對(duì)這一說法他們并沒有找到科學(xué)依據(jù)。其他六個(gè)“誤區(qū)”是：

Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight 在昏暗的燈光下看書會(huì)毀壞視力

The majority of eye experts believed it was unlikely to do any permanent damage, but it might make you squint, blink more and have trouble focusing, the researchers said.

這兩位研究者說，大多數(shù)眼科專家認(rèn)為這樣不會(huì)造成永久性傷害，但會(huì)讓你更頻繁地瞇眼和眨眼，并使眼睛難以聚焦。

Shaving makes hair grow back faster or coarser 剔除毛發(fā)后反會(huì)令毛發(fā)長得更快更粗

It has no effect on the thickness or rate of hair regrowth. But stubble lacks the finer taper of unshaven hair, giving the impression of coarseness.

其實(shí)這對(duì)毛發(fā)的濃密度和再生速度都沒有影響，但修剪后的新毛茬末端不像未修剪時(shí)那樣逐漸變細(xì)，所以給人感覺變粗了。

Eating turkey makes you drowsy 吃火雞會(huì)令人昏昏欲睡

It does contain an amino acid called tryptophan that is involved in sleep and mood control. But turkey has no more of the acid than chicken or minced beef. Eating lots of food and drink at holidays are probably the real cause of sleepiness.

火雞肉中的確含有一種氨基酸叫色氨酸，對(duì)睡眠和情緒會(huì)產(chǎn)生影響。但火雞含的這種酸并不比肌肉或者碎牛肉多。在節(jié)日里暴飲暴食才可能是犯困的真正原因。

We use only 10 percent of our brains 只有10%的大腦被利用

This myth arose as early as 1907 but imaging shows no area of the brain is silent or completely inactive.

這個(gè)誤解早在1907年就產(chǎn)生了，但(對(duì)大腦)掃描成像顯示，大腦中沒有完全不活動(dòng)的區(qū)域。

Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death 人死后頭發(fā)和指甲還會(huì)生長

This idea may stem from ghoulish novels. The researchers said the skin dries out and retracts after death, giving the appearance of longer hair or nails.

這個(gè)認(rèn)識(shí)可能來自恐怖小說。研究者說，死亡之后皮膚會(huì)變干并且收縮，所以顯得頭發(fā)和指甲更長了。

Mobile phones are dangerous in hospitals 在醫(yī)院里使用移動(dòng)電話有風(fēng)險(xiǎn)

Despite widespread concerns, studies have found minimal interference with medical equipment.

盡管人們對(duì)此都很擔(dān)心，但研究發(fā)現(xiàn)手機(jī)對(duì)醫(yī)療器械的干擾十分微弱。