Can the area with frostbite be soaked in hot water? Here comes the list of scientific rumors in January →

1. Can the areas with frostbite be soaked in hot water?

Rumor content : Frostbite is a common winter disease. When frostbite occurs, you should immediately soak the affected area in hot water, which can promote local blood circulation and promote the healing of frostbite.

Truth : Not recommended. A sudden rise in temperature can make frostbite worse . The frostbite area will become hotter and itchier when heated, increasing the risk of skin burns and damage.

Patients with mild or moderate frostbite can use some topical medications such as polysulfonated mucopolysaccharide ointment, sodium heparin ointment, vitamin E milk, hormone ointment, etc. under the guidance of doctors to improve blood circulation and eliminate inflammation. Some physical therapy methods such as ultrasound, electrical stimulation, infrared, etc. can also be used to promote tissue repair and prevent infection.

Patients with severe frostbite or necrotic ulcers need to undergo surgery to remove necrotic tissue or amputate in time to prevent sepsis or other complications. Patients with frostbite should seek medical attention immediately if they experience symptoms such as increased pain, darkening or blackening of the wound surface, chills, and high fever.

Source: People's Daily Health Client

2. Can putting a dry battery in your pocket prevent static electricity?

Rumor : In winter, static electricity becomes particularly common due to the dry air. To avoid static electricity, you can put dry batteries in your pocket.

Truth Interpretation : It is not necessary. The static electricity that makes us numb in daily life is usually caused by friction between clothes, shoes and socks, which causes the positive and negative charges in the body to be unbalanced and one side is dominant. Although dry batteries have positive and negative poles, the positive and negative charges are evenly matched, and the whole body composed of the human body and dry batteries is still unbalanced.

Therefore, this approach does not solve the problem. If we want to avoid electric shock, we must conduct away the excess charge in advance so that we and the object we are about to touch have the same potential.

So, how can we discharge the electricity in advance safely and happily? You can always keep a key in your pocket and touch the door handle with it first - we and the key are always at the same potential, which can avoid electric shock, and it is the tip of the key that gets hit for us - then it won't hurt when you pull it with your bare hands.

Source: Science Refutes Rumors

3. Will soaking in hot springs cause HPV infection and genital warts?

Rumor content : Hot spring water is very unclean and soaking in hot springs can cause infection with the HPV virus, leading to genital warts.

Truth: There is no basis. HPV is divided into many strains. Although it is possible to be infected with HPV through contact in daily life, those HPVs with less harm can be cleared by our immune system. HPVs that can cause genital warts are almost all transmitted through sexual intercourse.

In addition, the HPV virus itself is relatively fragile and will easily lose its activity once it leaves the human body. The temperature of hot spring water is relatively high, and it is difficult for the virus to survive. Therefore, it is unfounded to say that hot springs may infect HPV and cause genital warts. However, we should also pay attention that pathogens such as Trichomonas, Mycoplasma or Chlamydia can indeed be transmitted through channels such as hot springs. Therefore, we should choose regular hot springs, ensure that there are no wounds on the body, and wash the body well after hot springs. Female friends should avoid hot springs during menstruation.

Source: China News Network

4. There is a layer of "black film" on boiled eggs. Will eating it cause cancer?

Rumor content : If eggs are boiled for a long time, a layer of "black film" will form. The "black film" is slightly toxic and can cause cancer if consumed frequently. The time for boiling eggs must be strictly controlled.

Truth: Don’t worry too much. The egg yolk with the “black film” is just not easily absorbed by the human body, but it is not toxic and will not cause cancer.

The main component of the "black film" of eggs is ferrous sulfide. When eggs are heated for a long time, the amino acids in the protein will be decomposed, and sulfide will be produced. The egg yolk is rich in active iron. Sulfide reacts with iron to become ferrous sulfide, and ferrous sulfide will turn the originally golden yolk into a blue-gray or even dark green color. The degree of color mainly depends on the cooking time. If the cooking time is too long, the yolk is easy to change color and the taste is also poor.

Ferrous sulfide itself is non-toxic , but it may decompose under the action of stomach acid to produce hydrogen sulfide (the smell of rotten eggs). Although hydrogen sulfide is a toxic gas, the amount of hydrogen sulfide produced by ferrous sulfide in eggs is very small, far from reaching the amount that will produce a highly toxic effect.

Source: Science Refutes Rumors

5. Is the smell of old people on your body a sign of a serious illness?

Rumor : As people age, they may notice a so-called "old man smell" on themselves. This smell may be a sign of a serious illness and needs special attention.

Truth interpretation : Inaccurate. There are many reasons for the generation of old people's odor. This odor is a substance called 2-nonenal produced after the oxidation of fatty acids in the body. This substance will become stronger with age. If the space is not ventilated, the longer the time, the stronger the odor will be.

The smell of old people may be caused by slow metabolism, drugs producing some odor during metabolism, or clothes not being changed in time or skin diseases.

We should be alert to some very obvious odors, which may indicate that the elderly have one or more diseases lurking in their bodies and need to seek medical attention in time, such as rotten apple smell (may indicate diabetes), ammonia smell (may indicate kidney or oral problems), sour smell (may indicate digestive system diseases) and corruption smell (may indicate upper respiratory tract diseases).

Source: Science Refutes Rumors

6. People with chromosomes XYY are "born criminals". Should the child be aborted?

Rumor content : Generally, our sex chromosomes are XX and XY, and XYY has an extra Y. Early data showed that people with XYY syndrome have a higher crime rate, so some people always associate this genotype with "born criminals." As a result, the issue of whether an XYY fetus can be born has become a topic of ongoing debate on social platforms.

Truth: No basis. Early studies on "super male syndrome" (XYY) did point to "criminal genes", but these research conclusions were later questioned by the academic community, and some even came to the opposite conclusion. A 2012 study showed that when factors such as education level, economic situation, and family environment were taken into account, there was almost no difference in the crime rates between the "super male syndrome" group and the control group.

The XYY genotype does not have such a big impact on the health of the fetus. Most XYY people can live a normal life and usually have normal reproduction, and it will not be passed on to the next generation. Among the XYY people, some will have a slightly lower IQ than the normal level, and because they are usually taller, they may face a higher risk of social disorders in their later life.

If prenatal diagnosis shows that the fetus has "super male syndrome", there is currently no authoritative guidance and recommendations worldwide.

Source: Tencent

About the Science Rumors List

Released by the China Association for Science and Technology, the list is reviewed by experts every month. Based on criteria such as timeliness and harmfulness, hot rumors are selected for special interpretation and pushed across the entire network.

Jointly published: Scientific rumor-busting platform, China Internet Joint Rumor-busting Platform, "Study to Strengthen the Country" learning platform

Supported platforms: Weibo rumor refutation, Toutiao rumor refutation, Tencent Jiuzhen, NetEase Health, Toutiao Health, Baidu Knows, Douyin

Scientific rumor debunking: Sponsored by the China Association for Science and Technology, the National Health Commission, the Ministry of Emergency Management, the State Administration for Market Regulation and other ministries and commissions, guided by the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, and jointly created by national societies, authoritative media, social organizations and scientific and technological workers, it aims to effectively improve the dissemination, guidance and influence of rumor debunking information, so that rumors can stop at the wise and let science outrun rumors.

List of review experts

(In order of the number of strokes of surname)

Liu Qian, Researcher at Beijing Planetarium

Zhang Yu, researcher at Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Chen Peng, Vice Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication, Nankai University

Jia Changkai, deputy chief physician, Xiamen Eye Center affiliated to Xiamen University

Han Hongwei, Researcher, National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center

This article is produced by "Science Facts" (ID: Science_Facts). Please indicate the source when reprinting.