pediatric housecalls Robert R. Jarrett M.D. M.B.A. FAAP

We’ve already talked about medical proverbs such as “cold hands, warm heart,” “feed a cold, starve a fever,” “drink eight glasses of water a day,” “cigarettes will stunt your growth” and that “apple a day”… thing.

But there are some we left out because the list was getting a bit long for one sitting. I’m going to take another shot at listing a few more, some from the “dawn” of medicine and others which are beginning to hit up against the way doctors are practicing medicine these days!
Read more →

If nothing else, doctors are a bit concrete. We love boxes, categories, lists and most of all… answers!

So, things a bit askew, catawampus, off kilter or out of place make the average physician a bit nauseous if not outright wonky and catapulted into a search for the rationale. You give us an aphorism and we’ll design a research study.
Read more →

In the U.S., old Ben Franklin published a series of articles in his Old Richard’s Almanac which, even if he didn’t come out right and say it, people took as the truth and became Medical Proverbs still with us today.

Perhaps, because a lot of these medical proverbs had their roots in vintage manuscripts like the bible and early writings of the pioneering healers/doctors throughout time.

How about it? Should we take sayings like: “early to bed…”, “an apple a day…”, “pay attention to seasons…”, “doctors’ best book is the patient”, “health checks don’t add anything meaningful…”, “eight glasses of water…”, “cold hands…”, “cigarettes stunt your…” and “feed a cold…” as truth or with a huge grain of salt?

Let’s do some proverb-busting!