3 Health Things A Lot Of People Are Getting Wrong (Don’t Make These Mistakes)

It’s time for our weekly health news roundup, and this week we’re putting the spotlight on…

Don’t Dabble In dubious diabetes Drugs

Diabetes drugs are in hot demand, both for actual diabetics and also for people who want to lose weight and/or generally improve their metabolic health. However, there are a lot of claims out there for products that simply do not work and/or are outright fakes, as well as claims for supplements that are known to have a real hypoglycemic effect (such as berberine) but the supplements in question are not regulated, so it can be hard to control for quality, to ensure you are really getting what it says on the label.

As for the prescription drugs specifically (such as metformin, or GLP-1 RAs): there are online black market and gray market pharmacies who offer to sell you prescription drugs either…

• no questions asked (black market), or
• basic questions asked (e.g. “are you diabetic?”), and a doctor with flexible morals will rubber-stamp the prescription on the basis of your answers (gray market).

The problem with these is that once again they may be fakes and there is practically no accountability (these sorts of online pharmacies come and go as quickly as street vendors). Furthermore, even if they are real, self-medicating in this fashion without the requisite expert knowledge can result in messing up dosages, which can cause all sorts of issues, not least of all, death.

Read in full: The dangers of fraudulent diabetes products and how to avoid them

Related: Metformin For Weight-Loss & More

There is no “just the flu”

It’s easy, and very socially normal, to dismiss flu—which has killed millions—as “just the flu”.

However, flu deaths have surpassed COVID deaths all so recently this year (you are mindful that COVID is still out and killing people, yes? Governments declaring the crisis over doesn’t make the virus pack up and retire), and because it’s peaking a little late (it had seemed to be peaking just after new year, which would be normal, but it’s enjoying a second larger surge now), people are letting their guard down more.

Thus, getting the current flu vaccination is good, if available (we know it’s not fun, but neither is being hospitalized by flu), and either way, taking care of all the usual disease-avoidance and immune-boosting strategies (see our “related” link for those).

Read in full: Report indicates this flu season is the worst in a decade

Related: Why Some People Get Sick More (And How To Not Be One Of Them)

The hospital washbasins that give you extra bugs

First they came for the hand-dryer machines, and we did not speak up because those things are so noisy.

But more seriously: just like hand-dryer machines are now fairly well-known to incubate and spread germs at impressive rates, washbasins have come under scrutiny because the process goes:

1. Person A has germs on their hands, and washes them (yay)
2. The germs are now in the washbasin (soap causes them to slide off, but doesn’t usually kill them)
3. Person B has germs on their hands, and washes them
4. The splashback from the water hitting the washbasin distributes person A’s germs onto person B
5. Not just their hands, which would be less of a problem (they are getting washed right now, after all), but also their face, because yes, even with flow restrictors, the splashback produces respirable-sized bioaerosols that travel far and easily

In other words: it’s not just the visible/tangible splashback you need to be aware of, but also, that which you can’t see or feel, too.

Read in full: Researchers warn about germ splashback from washbasins

Related: The Truth About Handwashing

Take care!