Medical Myths?

[Historian]

My favorite myth: raw milk has almost magical health benefits for people.

I agree that is a real myth. That raw milk from grassfed animals is a nutritious and wholesome food and part of a healthy diet is no myth at all though.

Except for the little fact that milk is not meant for mammals past weaning age (and cow's milk isn't meant for people at all!).  And I like milk, but I have it as an occasional treat, not every day.  Cultured milk products are fine (yogurt, cheese, etc) because bacteria does some of the digestion for us, but it's a fact that plain cow's milk is not very compatible with the human digestive system.
Also, in infants, dairy products cause small amounts of intestinal bleeding.

[Historian]

My favorite myth: raw milk has almost magical health benefits for people.

I agree that is a real myth. That raw milk from grassfed animals is a nutritious and wholesome food and part of a healthy diet is no myth at all though.

Except for the little fact that milk is not meant for mammals past weaning age (and cow's milk isn't meant for people at all!).  And I like milk, but I have it as an occasional treat, not every day.  Cultured milk products are fine (yogurt, cheese, etc) because bacteria does some of the digestion for us, but it's a fact that plain cow's milk is not very compatible with the human digestive system.
Also, in infants, dairy products cause small amounts of intestinal bleeding.

ADULTS who drink raw milk can get terribly sick from a bacterium called Campylobacter foetalis. It happened to someone I know and he was in the hospital for about a week He was a healthy 21 or 22 year-old at the time.

I know Catholicmilkman won't agree that raw milk is dangerous but there are reasons most milk is Pasteurized. Many people are also lactose-intolerant so milk is not the perfect food, except when fed to calves, of course. Poor dairy calves never get to nurse but at least they save the colustrum and mix it in their bottles. We lived near a dairy farm when my daughter was little and many afternoons we'd go down and help feed the calves or watch a birth.

[Historian]

Related to the c-section, scar tissue thing...when I was in labor for this last baby, my own doctor was off duty and some other doctor with absolutely no "bedside manner" was on duty.  She scrutinized my record, noted that my first (17 years ago)was a c-section,and asked me if my doctor had informed me that even though I had had 7 vaginal births since the section, there was still risk that the incision in my uterus could rupture.  When I kind of brushed her off, she got mad at me.  Boy!  Yeah, I guess it could happen, but the chances?  And informing of me while I'm in the beginning stages of labor?  Sheesh!

 

Christina

Hey, the first doctor my mother-in-law went to when she was pregnant the first time looked at her (4'10" and under 90 pounds), looked at her husband (6'2" and 250 pounds} and said "You can't have a baby by this man." Way to gain her confidence!!!

Then he told her she'd have to have a C-section and she was terrified (this was 1939.) She went home to the doctor who'd delivered her and he reassured her. She had two sons, one 8 1/2 pounds, one 9 3/4 pounds, both delivered by her old doctor, and didn't need a section either time. She looked like she was carrying a Volkswagen when she was pregnant with the second, but no section!

[oiboyz]

^ That's a great story.   To tell her she can't have a baby by this man *after* she's gotten pregnant...!