We're all guilty of clicking on that cleverly worded headline that makes us pause and think to ourselves "what if" or looking at our computer clock only to find that you have been down the rabbit hole long enough to make you question your life choices. Seema Yasmin knows this as well as evident by her factual and entertaining analysis' of medical myths that leaves your curiosity sated and your mind informed. A perfect read for anyone who ever stopped and thought "huh, I wonder what this is all about".

Thank you to NetGalley and Johns Hopkins University Press for this advanced copy which I received in return for an honest review.

A lot of topics were covered and each were dissected as to the origin and the theories behind why people believe them. Some readers may skim or skip until they find a topic of interest. I found some topics useful, like how long to keep certain products before you should toss them. An interesting, in-depth book that I'm sure many will enjoy reading.

Thank you Netgalley and John Hopkins University Press for the opportunity to read this book.

Viral BS by Seema Yasmin is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in early December.

46 questions/assumptions/ravings answered and put to rest. Sort of. In a scary, gullible, conspiratorial way, so it's not the best kind of reading during a recount of popular votes and people emerging out of the woodwork of American conservatism to revolt.

This was a really good book. I learned several things I can take to my practice as a nurse. I enjoyed the debunking and the thorough research by Dr. Yasmin. There were things in here that were fascinating, some that were horrifying and some that just made me SMH. 

I think medical professionals will enjoy this book. I did think it was a tad heavy on the side that people outside of the profession might find it difficult to read and a little boring. I confess I skipped the part about fracking because it did not interest me. My favorite section was on thalidomide because I gained quite a bit of knowledge from it.

I highly recommend this book for a satisfying foray into the wide world of medicine and rumors!

Thank you to the author, Johns Hopkins University Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this collection of health/science articles - most, if not all reprints of the author's newspaper column. Each short chapter focuses on a specific question and (usually) how it can be debunked or how true it is. For many of these chapters, the answer is inconclusive, ending with a "maybe" or "more research is needed", which may be frustrating if you expect a hard and fast answer. I found it fascinating to see how many of these topics have gone viral and become founts of misinformation. However, it's a pity that the author didn't use the opportunity to debunk some of the myths and misinformation around COVID19 - when and where if not here?!

Goodreads review here (direct link not possible): https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3659221650

I found this book very difficult to get through; it lies in a strange territory between being too technical for a science-literate layperson and not technical enough for someone working in health.

I also had issues with repetitiveness however, as I read an ARC, this may not be the case with the final text. I found it frustrating that a large number of the questions posed did not have definitive answers but I can also appreciate that that is the nature of science.

This book touches on a lot of important topics and goes a lot deeper than simply dispelling popular conspiracy theories.

I would be interested to try this book as an audiobook as I had a much better time with it when I utilised the text-to-speech function on my Kindle.

In this book the author, a former medical professional, presents medical myths/questions and provides the background as to where these myths arose and include facts as to why they are incorrect.

I think this book is a fascinating read to get general information about why these medical myths are just that, myths. If you are looking for more information regarding a specific topic though, you will have to go and do some more research on your own. What is nice is that the author provides you with enough information that it will be easy for you to start such research if you wish. With that being said, I do feel that this book is more for those with curious minds about medical myths, not necessarily for someone who is looking for hardcore detailed facts. 

One part of this book that I enjoyed was how heavily it focused on how stories have more power over people than facts do and that is how these myths come about. The author also went into how celebrities and influencers really do influence the public when it comes to “healthy” fad or different medical procedures. This was fascinating because she showed how the public will listen to these people over medical professionals and end up in the hospital due to these, in reality, very unhealthy products they promote.

As someone who has grown up hearing many of these myths I did find this book to be a very interesting read and recommend it to people who are interested in learning about where these myths came from. I also think this would be a great gift/read for people who are thinking about not vaccinating themselves or their children as it is full of information as to why that is a horrible idea.

Science can be a very tricky topic to write about in an interesting way while maintaining an informative nature. Yasmin did just that. Each small chapter was an excellent primer on the topic at hand. She discussed numerous issues with the healthcare system, including racism, and discussed why information from scientific journals can be so misconstrued in media. An excellent and engaging book, perfect for science fans and the science-averse alike.

As a public health professional who works in the field of health communication, this book definitely piqued my interest. How do we convey information to consumers in a clear and simple way, so they can make informed decisions about their health, when at the same time there is so much medical misinformation out there? This is especially important now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when misinformation is at an all-time high and individuals' decisions could be putting others at risk. 
This book works to provide facts and evidence to dispel many medical myths, like "do vaccines cause autism?", "Does aspirin prevent cancer?" "Does the birth control pill cause depression?" etc. I think it would be worth learning about for anyone who is interested (but more importantly those who are not) to help them understand the reasoning why the myths came about, and how the fact and evidence help to explain that they aren't in fact true.

As a current healthcare professional, I have vast experience in breaking down common medical myths to patients and advocating for less misinformation to be spread in regards to our health. This book was a wonderful breakdown of myths I'm sure many of us have heard throughout our lives but never really looked that deeply into. I think this is a great book for those of us interested in the medical field and for those who want a little more research backing what they read on the internet.

In a world where untruths and less-than-truths are everywhere, this book provides an invaluable service.

This book is absolutely needed more than ever. I could absolutely see this book being included in an ELA classroom for its breakdown of fallacies, and think this book can really reinforce critical thinking skills in young minds. While the entire book may not be suitable for most high school attention spans, I would highly advise teachers to use some chapters in their curriculum.

"Viral BS: Medical Myths And Why We Fall For Them", by Dr Seema Yasmin, uses her experience as a doctor, researcher, and medical journalist to her advantage. The chapters, i.e. the articles, are tightly built units. Each one covers the current problematic situation, the misreporting that originated it, the research at the offset. She also added an upbeat prologue to frame the work, as well as the closing “Dr Yasmin’s Bullshit Detection Kit” to give a sense of cohesion. It works well, although often you can feel the separate origins of each chapter. Moreover, most sections forget to explain why a specific misrepresentation of information is persuasive enough to be perpetuated.

The tome is, as a whole, a good piece of solid medical reporting. It is also relevant, well written, engaging, useful. Sadly, it is very much the type of work that will mostly be picked up by readers already interested in this sort of material. Such readers will enjoy it, probably find some new materials. On the other hand, those who would most benefit from it (learn to be critical readers of media) will probably never choose it, let alone read it. 

A particularly appropriate read for 2020, and the years to follow,

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley.

This book was well-researched overall but I feel that more time should have been spent on specific topics rather than having such a huge array of 2-4 page synopses. The book did incite some questions in my personal life regarding women’s health, the use of supplements and also on the way that I may approach conversations in the future about hot topics. I found the discussion about people doubling-down on their beliefs in the face of facts really in tune with the times.

I do think that this book has “uncomfortable timing” because a lot could be said regarding COVID, but only one short paragraph made the cut somewhere along the way as an afterthought. I get that this book was likely written in its entirety before COVID, but including COVID in discussions about transmission and vaccinations would really make a strong impact. Perhaps these ideas could be in a later installment.

I’d say this is a rounded up 3.5 rating.

I enjoyed this book, it answers questions you’ve always been wondering about but had no one to ask. Lots of interesting facts included, which made sense to some questions. 

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

This book tries to clarify various myths and misinformation orevekent in health sector. It uses scientific data and evidence to out forward it's views. Where matter is controversial and beyond fact, book accepts that belief cannot be refuted or endorsed.
A good collection of around 50 such scientific facts and what we know about them.
Very informative and I wish it could have  been more I entertaining.

This book caught my attention because of our current Covid situation, marked by disinformation. It can be extremely frustrating when you know the science and facts, but others refuse them and continue spreading false information, so I thought maybe this book would show the way between fact and fiction and help set the record straight on some other medical misinformation, some of which has been spread for decades and then some. I was drawn in by the book's simple question and answer format in short chapters. What a great way to get information to the casual layperson who may or may not know what to believe anymore.

The first chapter was about weight-loss teas, which I've never believed in, but the descriptions of how they can actually be toxic are surprising. Even more shocking is that they aren't regulated in any way. Ditto vitamins and supplements. Yikes. Other topics I found interesting: the recent trend of eating your placenta after giving birth (my OBGYN asked me if I wanted it and in my drug induced haze I believe I said "Throw that shit out."), is trauma inherited, diet sodas in relation to Alzheimer's/stoke (I call Diet Coke "mom juice"), mammograms, statins, supplements, and fracking.

Ultimately and unfortunately, I don't think I was the intended target for this book. Most of the information presented was old news to me and I admit to skimming a few sections. The topics are explained in simple manner, which I sometimes found lacking or a little over generalized. As for the section on vaccines, well, you're never going to change anyone's mind on that so why bother. 

And I don't know if it's just because I have an advanced copy, but there is no bibliography or endnotes. For someone who gives us a numerical list in the appendix of what to look out for in deciding if something is true or false, the author doesn't provide the reader with much to go on besides studies mentioned in the text. Should we just take her word for it? (I mean, probably because this is published by a reputable university, but still.) 

If this sounds like something you're interested in, by all means get a copy and read it. I'm not saying it's poorly written beyond a couple over generalizations; but if you already have a great handle on viral medical mysteries, then I'd say this is one you can probably skip.

This book is okay but it is far from a blockbuster. The author is a female MD of Indian extraction who leads off herb book with what to do if you mix up your birth control pills with your pet dog's thyroid medicine. What follows is not much better.

An interesting mix of questions and answers.  It's easy to pick up and put down if you don't have a lot of time to read.  There is a "bullshit detection kit" at the end that's very helpful.  If you read this, you will learn about many different medical-related topics. Some other interesting questions are How long can you eat leftovers, and Do mammograms cause more problems than they detect?  There are some particularly emotional ones like Did the maker of aspirin test medicines in Nazi concentration camps? and Does infection with Ebola cause lifelong symptoms?  There are plenty of questions that can directly relate to your own life, so it's not just random information, but things that can be helpful to you.

Lots of conspiracy theories debunked in this book. Some are more obvious than others. It's not as obvious as it was with all the Covid kookiness.