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Traveling medicine shows and questionable or even harmful "medical remedies" may seem like a thing of the past, but there's plenty of its 21st-century iterations.

While MLM marketers are not promoting tonics of cocaine or opium, they are trying to convince people that essential oils will cure cancer.

Obvious pyramid-scheme nonsense aside, plenty of people on social media for some reason think of themselves as doctors and spread ignorance to whoever will listen. Just don't let all that BS seep into your brain. Instead, try to laugh at their ignorance; it can be quite funny!

Just scroll through the Twitter account Bad Medical Takes. It shares user-submitted screenshots of some of the most ridiculous misconceptions "online health professionals" have to offer. Here are some of them!

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Brandon Collinsworth
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would like to believe that, but I saw a guy a while back that believed it was something women could hold in like peeing.

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wifeofweasley
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah... We should wait till we get home to start bleeding. We definitley control our period

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JuJu
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yup. I trained so hard, I managed to never have my period when I'm on vacation or want to spend the weekend camping, on New Year's Eve, Christmas, my birthday...and then I woke up.

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Something
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2 years ago

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Sadly, some girls and women have a "choice" between free bleeding at school or staying home, so they stay home and lose part of their education.

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iblowsheep
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i would love to say, come on! No one is that stupid. Unfortunately, I have lived on this earth long enough to know that yes indeed there are many.

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Clearly sunny
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He can't be that stupid! Does he think we enjoy it! It sucks.

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Julie Harden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes, because the BEST time for a teenage girl get her period is in school. FFS.

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Lyn Moffett
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Is that guy serious??? Great,,, now we have to control normal female bodily functions. Jeez I can't remember where I left my key to turn off my menstrual cycle!!!!! Twat

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she/they and definitely gay
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

if i could hold it in I wouldve never cried in the bathroom while some lunch lady outside listened to jesus take the wheel

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pusheen buttercup
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just in case anyone doesn't know: periods happen at various points and are not within the control of the person. We can try to predict them but it's not always precise for everyone, and once it's started all we can do is try to avoid making a mess until it is over.

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Lex
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We can't control where our periods happen! Come on, people!

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Robert Robi Z
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They should better teach the girls to learn to control themselves! (This is sarcasm)

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Vicky Z
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2 years ago

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𝕁𝕖𝕟𝕟𝕪𝔹𝕖𝕖
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes because we choose when to start bleeding out of a place no one wants to bleed out of

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mia
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

yeah personally im not in favour of people with uterus's having their periods at school /j

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Yort
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some people ARE stupid, but on the other hand this sounds just like the arguments people make against schools having condom machines.

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Purr·maid
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

ᴛᴏᴏ ʙᴀᴅ ʜᴇ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʜɪs ʙʀᴀɪɴ "sᴜᴘᴇʀsɪᴢᴇᴅ."

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Jaehyun brides
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ah yes i can tell my body to hold the periods,what a genius this man really ...

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Easily Excitable Panda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yep, because that's how women's bodies work. Just flip a switch and turn it off!

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Beth Arriaga
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Are people really this ignorant or, please tell me, they are just joking?!?!

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Brian Bennett
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A a nurse - this is one of the dumbest statements I have ever heard. you cannot control when your period starts. (Was this written by a man?)

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Chloe *Leah* Pheonix
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Because it's controllable. Like we can hold it in like pee. Yea no

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Ivana
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Seems like a joke, I would be shocked if this dude was serious on any level.

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Viviane
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We have band aids at home. My husbands cuts himself several times a year and applies them to his booboo. I rest my case.

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Rose the Cook
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Another moron who thinks periods can be turned on and off for convenience.

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Mary Veltri
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It amazes me how little some men know about menstruation. Didn't a senator say something similar not to long ago. Yes we can control a fluid. It's exactly like when we all suck our sweat back in our pours.

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Julie C Rose
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wonder what would happen if I emailed Jacinda and used this as an argument for why we should make period products free all the time like Scotland.

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Monday
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Given how that guy's profile looks I don't think it was sarcasm....he just comes across as your average moron looking at his other tweets

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Lesley Hahn
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2 years ago

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You lose credibility when you include obvious irony, satire, etc.

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jeannette
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2 years ago

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That you do not pay for anything does not mean it is not free. Someone will pay the wages of the workers that manufacture them, the raw materials, ... May be you with your taxes, may be the other goods the government provides and now you have less road maintenance, less new books in the library or whatever. But the money to pay must come from somewhere Who is so naive to believe that "things can be free"?

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Fish Boden
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Free to the students? That's the important part. What is wrong with you? So nasty.

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jeannette
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2 years ago

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Who is so naïve to believe that things are free? That you do not pay for them, does not mean they are free. You will pay higher taxes, or you will get less public services with the taxes you pay now (less books at the library, worse reparation works..) Really: Does anyone believe it?

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Lauren Caswell
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Jeanette I live in nz. We aren't naive. This comes from the tax surplus they have built as a covid protection and to invest in schemes. Tax hasn't risen. Oooh, 19% tax and free schools, healthcare, proper benefits system (with record low unemployment during a pandemic), that's naive? Oh pls do some research. I'm glad it will be free at schools (oh where kids also get free breakfast and lunch available, to everyone so there isn't poverty shaming, excess food from it is handed out daily to community groups until the govt tweaks supply/demand re lunches). But ya know, I'm guessing you must be horrified at 19% tax, right? (The average single American contributed 29.8% of their earnings to three taxes in 2019—income taxes, Medicare, and Social Security. The average income tax rate for all Americans was 14.6%)

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General practitioner, medical researcher, and founder of PrimeHealth Clinical Research, Iris Gorfinkel, M.D., told Bored Panda that social media and the Internet are not a one-size-fits-all. "On the one hand, it improves patient education and can improve public health. It brings people together who are in very wide apart places, so it overcomes geographical barriers... It's a tremendous educational tool for patients," Gorfinkel said.

Yes, it promotes awareness and encourages patient engagement, and it can provide quality information. But at the same time, people are searching online for the next big thing. "So what is more likely to be shared?", the doctor asked metaphorically. What is novel, she immediately answered. Or what is unusual.

Gorfinkel also pointed out a study done in 2018, published in Science by three MIT scholars, which found that falsehoods are 70% more likely to be retweeted on Twitter than truth. It also discovered that it took the truth about six times as long as falsehood to reach 1,500 people. This proves that falsehoods are simply alluring.

But even if many of us know not to trust what uncle Bobby is saying about vaccines on his Facebook page (I hope), reading a scientific paper can be really challenging and time-consuming. "I think there are some websites that are fairly trusted," Gorfinkel said. "Medscape, for example, tries to bring information to people in their own language. It's not perfect, but it is available in German, Portuguese, Spanish, and French. Then there's WebMD, MedlinePlusDrugs.com. There's a whole bunch of these websites that are actually quite good."

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For the so-called orphan conditions — diseases that are so rare, there isn't enough resources on them — Gorfinkel suggested Orpha.net.

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Helen Haley
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At least it was a polite way to inform you of their stupid. Makes it easier to avoid them.

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If you are still concerned about the validity of a certain piece, you will probably have to inspect it yourself.

What is to stop any doctor or professor from writing an opinion piece? Nothing, but this is where peer reviews come into play. "That's where other doctors and professors who have nothing to gain from what's published, look at the paper and say, 'Yes, this is actually true.' So look for things that are peer-reviewed, look for at least an editorial board. Again, that's a safeguard to prevent any one person's opinion from becoming a fact because peer reviews and editorial boards keep doctors in line in terms of making sure that what is said is accurate," Gorfinkel explained.

The sources that Gorfinkel mentioned earlier, like WebMD, publish some research studies that require huge funding. So looking at the funding source matters too — is there a conflict of interest?

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Of course, when a particular paper was written is important as well because, as Gorfinkel highlighted, what may have been relevant, say for COVID-19, even in 2020 is, for the most part, not relevant at all in 2021.

Generally, when you notice medical information online, it's probably best to approach it with caution. "If there is a promise of a miracle cure, that should ring alarm bells big time," Gorfinkel said. "A lot of complex problems, including depression, anxiety, hair loss, acne; a lot of these problems are actually complicated, and they don't have one single solution. This is especially true when things promise very quick answers, and often at a price."

It's always a good idea to run these ideas by either your family doctor or a pharmacist before investing in them.

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I I
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

really ? this has to be a troll , people are not this dumb are they?:?

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Doctor Gorfinkel also added a very important piece of information: the United States and Canada do not monitor natural products. "Whether or not it's made in trusted countries, understand that they generally will fall under a separate category that does not have to fulfill the requirements of standard drugs."

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This can become a problem because there's really nothing to stop natura-ceuticals and that includes the entire vitamin industry and the mineral industry. "There is no one to police what's in that stuff. And for the most part, there's no one there to pull it off the shelves," Gorfinkel explained.

"Moreover, these products tend to be some of the highest profit margin products available in stores. Often, they're placed right next to the normal pharmacy so that people can 'self-medicate.' But much of that has no evidence base whatsoever."

Because no one's watching, the potential for having these products adulterated with potentially toxic elements is very high. This is true for the probiotics industry as well as the prebiotics industry.

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I I
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

what do i get every year ? are they putting fresh trackers in my arm ? or magnets ?

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"I don't think people realize what's happening," Gorfinkel said. "There was a study done in the United States where they went into Walmart, and pulled off natura-ceuticals just off the shelf, and found that there was no correlation between what was on the label and what was actually in the bottle."

When experts checked probiotics in Toronto (this was the Department of Family Practice at the St. Michael's Hospital), they just took 12 random things off the shelf, gave them to the microbiology lab, and found the same: no correlation between what was promised to be in the bottle and what was actually in the bottle.

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"So if there are promises that sound too good to be true, bottom line, they probably are," Gorfinkel said. And this sadly applies to more than just online medical takes.

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qwerty
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Alright. I never liked PETA, to put it mildly. But I thought that even they would be above this udder bullshit.

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qwerty
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can just imagine this person at the doctor. "Doctor, I have a problem." "Oh, what is it?" "I keep getting my period." "How often does it happen?" "Every month! Can you believe it?" "Ok. So, we're going to refer you to the psychiatric ward."

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Chris Wade
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Was this tweeted in 1860 or something? Cause, boy, have I got news for you, Andrea.

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Helen Haley
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Do incels post everywhere, or is there just an alarming number of them?

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qwerty
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This isn't just a scientific error. It's also a mathematical error.

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Sonya Jersey
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

wait until you find out that you can die from badly infected and untreated teeth

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Eslamala
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some people should get sterilized as a favor to the rest of the world.

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tiari
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, at least this one is not *completely* wrong. He is just wrong about the amount of water needed for that, there is no risk with your normal everyday amount.

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Monday
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wish the vaccine could be sexually transmitted...would be so much easier to vaccinate more people with a limited supply.

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Anyone-for-tea?
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

WT absolute F? I feel sorry for her daughters having such a hateful, uninformed mother. And poor Taylor Swift, not that I think she would have seen this, but it reminds me of Ellen trying to shame her about her rumoured relationships, and wouldn’t take no for an answer.

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I I
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

yeah , no wonder people wont get the vaccine with these dumb tw@s out there

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mulk
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes, because women have more DNA in common with princesses and unicorns

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earringnut
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's an unpopular opinion because most people have a post dark ages level of education.

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Sofie
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have brown eyes which is a darker colour which is strong like espresso, which means that I'm never ever sick. Well, starting now.

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Note: this post originally had 85 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.