ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Do you really need 10,000 steps a day? Do vaccines cause autism? Is a glass of red wine a day good for your heart? Read on to see whether these health claims and others are true or not. Busting some health myths.
What about this one: you need to take at least 10,000 steps a day to get any health benefits.
“The data suggests that any movement, any getting up and moving around is gonna reduce your risk in the long-term,” said F. Perry Wilson, MD, MSCE, associate professor of medicine & public health at Yale School of Medicine.
In fact, a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that just doing 2,200 steps a day was associated with lower mortality and heart disease. Here’s another one: women are the only ones who get breast cancer? True or false?
False!
“So, I lifted my arm up and I ran my hand across my chest and I felt a lump. And immediately I knew it was breast cancer,” recalled Paul Dombrowski.
Not only can men get breast cancer, but a study from Vanderbilt University found that they are 19% more likely to die from it than women.
“Unfortunately, a lot of men with breast masses fail to go to the physician. That leads to breast cancer in men being diagnosed at later stages,” explained Nicole D. Figueredo, MD, FACS, breast surgeon at Florida Medical Clinic.
Some other health claims you should question include: a glass of red wine a day is good for your heart, you only need to wear sunscreen when it is sunny outside, and vaccines cause autism. Many studies have debunked these theories. As for autism … Johns Hopkins reports zero connection between autism and vaccines.
Another myth not to believe is that hand sanitizers will protect you from all germs. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are not as effective in eliminating viruses such as norovirus and rotavirus. Your best defense against these types of viruses is washing your hands with soap and cleaning surfaces with bleach.
Contributors to this news report include: Milvionne Chery, Producer; Roque Correa, Editor.
Sources:
https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/58/5/261
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/fullarticle/2751525
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/the-evidence-on-vaccines-and-autism
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/is-red-wine-igood-for-your-health-234429359.html
https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/sunscreen
https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2012/01/13/examining-the-effectiveness-of-hand-sanitizers/
https://www.uchealth.org/today/norovirus-and-hand-sanitizer/
* For More Information, Contact: Colleen Moriarty
Director of Media Relations and Audience Development for Yale School of Medicine
and
Kena Lewis, APR
Assistant Vice President of Public Affairs & Media Relations at Orlando Health
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