The medical officer of health and CEO of the Eastern Ontario Health Unit says you can’t believe everything you see on the internet, particularly when it comes to medical advice. While helpful information can circulate, Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, A.K.A. Dr. Paul, says disinformation does as well. To help separate fact from fiction, Dr. Paul joined CTV’s Your Morning Ottawa on Wednesday to speak about three common topics of medical misinformation. Vitamin K Vitamin K helps to clot blood and prevent bleeding. As Dr. Paul explains, it is a vitamin infants are typically lacking, which can pose serious health risks. “The issue is that we knew that those babies are prone to bleeding, and particularly in the brain, it’s what’s called intracranial hemorrhage within the first couple of weeks of life,” Dr. Paul says. To help prevent these serious conditions, babies are typically given a single injection of vitamin K within the first few hours of their life. While this has been standard for some time, Dr. Paul says he has seen an increase in people refusing the injection for their children. “It’s something we’ve been doing routinely, and I don’t know why there’s all this resistance, but that resistance is really based on not fact but myth,” Dr. Paul said. The Canadian Pediatrics Society says vitamin K shots are safe and carry no side effects. While breast milk and baby formulas contain some vitamin K, it is a very low amount. Vitamin K can be administered by the mouth, but Dr. Paul and the Canadian Pediatrics Society say it is not as effective as an injection. Additional information on vitamin K shots can be found on the Canadian Pediatrics Society’s website. Immunization Dr. Paul says there are many misconceptions surrounding immunization, and while vaccines are not entirely without side-effects, he says their benefits have been shown to far outweigh the risks. According to Health Canada, serious side effects are very rare, and vaccines are “among the safest medical products available.” “The dangers of vaccine preventable diseases are many times greater than the risks of a serious adverse reaction to the vaccine,” Health Canada states. “Diseases like polio, diphtheria, measles and pertussis can lead to paralysis, meningitis, pneumonia, choking, brain damage, heart problems, and even death. Although today these diseases are rarely seen in Canada, if immunization programs were reduced or stopped, they would re-appear in epidemics causing sickness and death.” While vaccines are oftentimes claimed to be linked to autism, Dr. Paul says that is not the case, a claim reiterated by Health Canada. Health Canada also notes vaccines are not linked to conditions like multiple sclerosis, asthma or sudden infant death syndrome. “The bottom line, again, evidence has shown that these are the best things we can do to prevent infection and prepare our bodies to prevent bacteria and viruses from causing infection,” Dr. Paul said. More information on immunization is available through Health Canada. Sunscreen While you may see anti-sunscreen sentiments circulating online, including some claims that the product causes skin cancer, Dr. Paul says sunscreen is safe to use and important for preventing skin cancer. “The more you’re exposed to the sun, getting sunburns at a younger age, increases your risk of skin cancer, melanomas, which can be very deadly later on in life,” Dr. Paul said, adding that sunscreen use is proven to decrease those risks significantly. “Sunscreens are safe and very effective, and the reason we use them is to prevent cancer later on in life,” he said. Dr. Paul also recommends against using tanning lotion, as that can worsen sun damage to your skin. Health Canada recommends using a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 30 or higher. It should be applied 15 minutes before going out into the sun and reapplied every two hours. For more information on sunscreen use, visit Health Canada’s website.
