Eating oranges and drinking Coke can lead to a positive test for the new coronavirus antigen?
Lanzhou Evening News: "Sleeping from east to west can lead to insomnia", "Frequent shaking of hands is Parkinson's disease", "Eating oranges and drinking Coke can lead to positive tests for new coronavirus antigens"... These seemingly "scientific" rumors, if you believe them, you may believe them wrong!
How is the truth?
The authoritative April "Science" gossip list reveals the secrets for you.
The "Monthly 'Scientific' Rumor List" is guided by the Beijing Association for Science and Technology, the Beijing Municipal Party Committee's Internet Information Office, and the Capital Internet Association. Supported by the Editing Professional Committee, the China Evening News Science Editors and Journalists Society, the Shanghai Science and Technology Communication Association, and the Science and Technology Information Institute of the Beijing Academy of Science and Technology.
April 2022 "Science" gossip list
Sleeping in east-west orientation can cause insomnia
Rumor: When sleeping, the body should conform to the direction of the earth's magnetic field, that is, lie down in the north-south direction.
Sleeping in east-west orientation can lead to insomnia.
Fact: Earth's magnetic field has little effect on the human body, and there is no research to prove that the orientation of the bed affects sleep quality.
In this regard, experts from the Sleep Disorders Collaborative Group of the Chinese Medical Association said that human beings are exposed to various magnetic fields all the time, and the human body also has a magnetic field, but the magnetic field of the human body is one ten millionth of the strength of the earth's magnetic field, and the two have established a certain balance. Therefore, the impact of the earth's magnetic field on the human body is minimal, and there is no research to confirm that sleep orientation affects sleep.
Insomnia is mainly caused by disturbed sleep rhythm, such as changing work and rest time frequently, going to bed late and waking up late, doing things in bed that have nothing to do with sleep (reading books, playing mobile phones), etc., which may affect human rhythm and aggravate insomnia.
In addition, insomnia is also affected by age, genetic factors, health environment, etc., mental illness, medication, etc. will also cause different degrees of sleep disorders.
There are many reasons for insomnia, so the treatment of insomnia cannot be "one thousand people". Targeted treatment plans should be given, including improving sleep environment, establishing good living habits, improving emotional state, appropriate drugs and physical therapy.
Shaking hands is Parkinson's disease
Myth: As society ages, the incidence of Parkinson's disease is also rising: some people have frequent hand shaking, which is a symptom of Parkinson's disease.
Fact: The term tremor is called tremor, which is a typical symptom of Parkinson's disease in the eyes of the public, but the presence of tremor does not necessarily mean Parkinson's disease, psychological stress, muscle fatigue or taking certain drugs and other reasons can also cause tremor.
On the other hand, not all patients with Parkinson's disease have tremors. Some patients only have stiffness in the limbs and no tremor. This condition is called non-tremor Parkinson's disease.
In fact, slowness of movement is the core symptom of Parkinson's disease.
Patients may feel that fine movements such as brushing teeth and beating eggs are inflexible, their arms cannot swing freely when walking, their writing becomes smaller, and their expressions become dull.
Patients may also have trunk rolls, involuntary limb movements, or obvious postural abnormalities at certain periods, which is medically called dyskinesia or dystonia.
As the course of the disease progresses, patients with advanced Parkinson's disease will experience symptoms such as unsteady walking, easy falling, and eventually unable to walk independently and need to rely on a wheelchair or bed.
In addition, Parkinson's disease also has many non-motor symptoms, including loss of smell, low mood, sleep problems, decreased intelligence, frequent urination, intractable constipation, etc., which usually require multidisciplinary participation to provide a better comprehensive treatment plan. Can't just look at "hand shake" or not.
If the middle-aged and elderly people continue to experience some slowness in their daily life, such as the reduction or disappearance of the natural arm swing when walking, the slowness of walking, the slowness of turning, the inflexibility of unbuttoning and dressing, the slowness of turning over at night, the use of chopsticks, etc. Slower writing, etc., need to be vigilant. These slow movements are not necessarily caused by old age, but may also involve Parkinson's disease, Parkinson's syndrome, Parkinson's superimposition syndrome and other diseases.
Eating oranges and drinking Coke can lead to positive new coronavirus antigen test
Rumor: Don't eat oranges or drink Coke before taking the new coronavirus antigen test, otherwise the result will become positive.
Fact: Drinking Coke, eating oranges, and other daily diets will not affect antigen test results.
The new coronavirus antigen nucleic acid test should be carried out in strict accordance with the instructions. If the operation does not meet the standards, the results obtained are meaningless, but the antigen test results cannot be considered inaccurate.
The principle of the detection kit is simply to capture viral antigens by specific antibodies, but the binding of antigens and antibodies needs to occur at an appropriate pH value (acidity and alkalinity).
Under normal circumstances, the sample processing solution for soaking the swab contains a buffer system, which can ensure that the antigen-antibody binds at a suitable pH.
However, if cola, orange juice and other liquids are directly dropped on the antigen detection kit, the unsuitable pH value will cause non-specific false positive results.
So, can an antigen test be done after eating acidic food?
The answer is yes.
After sampling, the swab needs to be soaked in the sample treatment solution before testing. The sample treatment solution contains substances such as Tris-glycine and high-concentration sodium chloride, which can effectively stabilize the structure of the gold-labeled antibody and avoid the occurrence of interference reactions.
As long as the collection swab is mixed with the sample processing solution according to the standard operating procedures, and then the test is carried out, there is no need to worry about false positives caused by acidic substances.
Taking 'smart medicine' can improve students' concentration
Myth: Taking "smart medicine" before important exams can improve concentration and help candidates get better grades.
The truth: The so-called medicine that can "improve concentration" was once popular among candidates and parents, online writers, postgraduates, and "kao public" as "smart medicine".
In fact, "smart drugs" are actually central nervous system stimulants such as Modafinil, Ritalin, and Zhida, which belong to a class of controlled psychoactive drugs.
These drugs are clinically used to treat children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, severe narcolepsy, etc. Healthy people will feel energetic at the beginning, but they will soon show side effects such as nausea, insomnia, headache, etc., and may also form drugs. rely.
Foods made from glutinous rice are not easy to digest
Rumor: Tangyuan, Lantern Festival and other foods are made of glutinous rice, which is sticky and difficult to digest, so you can't eat more each time.
Fact: People find glutinous rice difficult to digest, probably because glutinous rice balls, yuanxiao, eight-treasure rice and other foods also contain a lot of sugar and fat, giving people a "greasy" feeling.
In fact, sticky sticky rice is easier to digest than other pastas.
The staple food that people often eat, such as rice and white flour, is mainly composed of amylose, while more than 99% of glutinous rice is amylopectin, and its molecular structure is more bifurcated, so it is easier to gelatinize.
When the human digestive system decomposes starch, it is hydrolyzed from the end of the molecule, so there are many branched amylopectin, and the efficiency of hydrolysis and digestion is actually higher.
However, because of the faster digestion, the glycemic index (GI) of glutinous rice is also faster than the rice and white noodles we usually eat (GI of rice is 82, while the GI of glutinous rice is 87), so it is not suitable for one time. eat too much.
He Yan, All Media Reporter of Lanzhou Daily