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Daria Sargsyan
Killer wallpaper, poisonous water and seductive chair. How to survive in your own apartment
Editor Alexey Portnov
Managing editor Alina Saydasheva
Project producer Anastasia Chukovskaya
Proofreaders Alena Merkuryeva, Natalya Vitko, Anna Vasilyeva
Editorial Director Maria Polyakova
Artistic design Alina Aleinikova
Photographer - Masha Kushnir
Popular science edition
Sargsyan, Daria Vladimirovna.
Killer wallpapers, poisonous water and a seductive chair: How to survive in your own apartment / Daria Sargsyan. - 3rd ed., Rev. and additional - Moscow: Individual, 2018.: ill. - (Health).
© Sargsyan D., 2018
© Individual Publishing LLC, 2018
© Afisha Company LLC, 2015, 2016
© Meduza Project, 2017
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The next time you brush your teeth, try asking yourself, “Why am I doing this?” for each action. My answers six months ago looked like this:
Why do I use this particular toothbrush?
Well, she's simple and beautiful. And the bells and whistles that other brushes have are probably pure marketing, they are of no use.
Why this toothpaste?
She smells good.
Why do I brush my teeth this way?
Used to it since childhood.
Why don't I have interdental brushes, irrigators, and other dentifrice devices?
HM. Because life is too short for me to spend it on interdental brushes? I don't know, I didn't think about it.
If you have the same answer, then this book is for you. The wrong choice of toothpaste brings the day when the teeth need treatment. Due to improper hand washing, you are more likely to get sick with SARS. By defrosting meat incorrectly (at room temperature, not in the refrigerator), you increase the risk of food poisoning. Every day we do a lot of little stupid things of this kind. Just because we don't think about it. Simply because they are used to it.
Sometimes the opposite happens. We are afraid of something that is completely harmless (well, almost harmless): scale, a microwave oven, or a monitor that supposedly kills our eyesight.
I tried to understand all this from the point of view of evidence-based medicine. Evidence-based medicine is good because it has the tools to provide a reasoned answer to the question “Why?”. Why do dental professional communities recommend fluoride toothpaste? Because in well-conducted studies, this approach has proven effective in preventing tooth decay. If there were no such studies, then we would know that we know nothing. And this is also good: we would not be fooled by the ardent belief that only a paste with tea tree oil and grated pearls can protect against caries. "Where is your proof?" - "They are not here". However, due to the relatively small number of good studies, such verification of information is often unsupported and leads to some confusion. Still, it's better to know that we don't know something and accept it than to blindly believe.
Together with Marianna Mirzoyan and Karina Nazaretyan - they are also medical journalists - in January 2016 we started a channel in Telegram (essentially a blog) called "Wet Mantu". The name may seem strange, but it has an important message. I think that more or less all people who grew up in the USSR and Russia know that the manta sample cannot be wetted. This taboo sits firmly in the head, and few people even think that everything could be different. We want people to question such "well-known facts" and look for evidence. Because in the end it turns out that the mantu sample can be wetted, with a sore throat, you even need to eat ice cream, and you can’t wash the meat before cooking.
There are not so many decent sources with which you can check the information. There are practically none in Russian, mostly in English, because there is no local medicine - there is world medicine, and the language in which doctors and scientists from all over the world share information is English. All manuals of professional medical societies, all scientific journals that meet strict requirements - in English. Scientific articles are collected in the PubMed.com database. But the fact of publication itself is not a sign of the quality of the article, of course, and each article needs to be dealt with separately, this is a rather complicated process that requires certain skills. Therefore, in medical practice, the guidelines of professional communities are more often relevant: based on the analysis of scientific articles, experts recommend how to prevent, diagnose, treat, and so on. These guidelines can be found on the websites of the professional organizations themselves or on ClinicalKey.com. Useful, fact-checked texts about a variety of diseases and conditions are available at UpToDate.com and Medscape.com. These are all sources for doctors, nurses and journalists. Maybe even for advanced patients. For everyone else, for example, the state sites MedlinePlus.gov (USA) and NHS.uk (UK) have been created - information is simplified there. A section for patients is also available at UpToDate - uptodate.com/patients. There are other sites, but MedlinePlus works as an aggregator and links to almost everything decent. Using these sources, you can find answers to most questions about health.
I wrote this book based on the sites listed above, and also talked to doctors, looked at what doctors told my foreign colleagues, and checked every fact that seemed obvious. And if you, while reading, stumble upon some strange statement - you can always look at the footnotes and familiarize yourself with the source. You just don’t want to believe in some things, and in order to get rid of some kind of habit, you need to show character, go against what
Killer wallpaper, poisonous water and seductive chair. How to survive in your own apartment - description and summary, author Sarkisyan Daria, read for free online on the website of the electronic library site
Every day we do hundreds of stupid things - in the kitchen, in the bathroom, in the bedroom and at the desk. For some reason, with the effort of three ourselves with a washcloth, we buy orthopedic mattresses and are afraid of going blind from constant work at the computer. From this book you will learn how to live according to science and not die ahead of time. Debunking myths on every page!
We don't need antibacterial soap
But the paste must be chosen wisely, otherwise you will have to treat your teeth later
Due to improper hand washing, we are more likely to get ARVI
Water filters can harm us
The toilet seat is cleaner than it looks, but the carpet is not very
Terribly sorry, but kissing pets is still not worth it.
Medical journalist Daria Sargsyan tried to understand our everyday behavior from the point of view of evidence-based medicine: what is good for us, what is categorically not, and what does not make sense at all. "Why so, and not otherwise?" is her favorite question.
Every day we do hundreds of stupid things - in the kitchen, in the bathroom, in the bedroom and at the desk. For some reason, with the effort of three ourselves with a washcloth, we buy orthopedic mattresses and are afraid of going blind from constant work at the computer. From this book you will learn how to live according to science and not die prematurely. Debunking myths on every page! - We don't need antibacterial soap - But the paste must be chosen wisely, otherwise you will have to treat your teeth later - Due to improper hand washing, we get sick more often with SARS - Water filters can harm us - The toilet seat is cleaner than it seems, and the carpet is not very - Terribly sorry, but kissing pets is still not worth it Medical journalist Daria Sargsyan tried to understand our everyday behavior from the point of view of evidence-based medicine: what is good for us, what is categorically not, and what does not make sense at all. "Why so, and not otherwise?" is her favorite question. This is the third, updated and revised edition of the book. Science does not stand still, scientists continue their research and publish new articles, so Daria re-checked all the facts, updated scientific information and rewrote the chapter "About air". Let this book become your desktop, and it is also studied in the lessons of life safety, distributed in medical institutions, passed from hand to hand and helps to live. About the author Daria Sargsyan is a medical journalist, promoter of evidence-based medicine, editor of Meduza, and co-founder of Namochi Mantu, a telegram channel of many thousands. Reviews The book should be read not so much as an instruction - is tap water dangerous and is it possible to do without a filter; is the scale in the kettle terrible; Is it harmful to drink five cups of coffee a day (spoiler: not harmful) - much like therapy for urban fears: it turns out that so many things that we are so hysterically afraid of are actually not scary at all. In general, read Sargsyan more and listen to the Internet less. Lisa Birger, Literary Critic Drawing on hundreds of studies, Dasha explains how to wash your hands, brush your teeth, protect yourself from STDs, how to eat, drink and sleep. The book really describes the ideal (as it is understood by today's development of science) to which one must strive in order to reduce the risks of health problems. I would be glad if this book were rewritten and reprinted every few years in accordance with the latest data. Fedor Katasonov, pediatrician, author of the popular telegram channel "Fediatry" 3rd edition, revised and expanded.
Book " Killer wallpaper, poisonous water and seductive chair. How to survive in your own apartment» the author Daria Sarkisyan was rated by the visitors of the BookGuide, and her reader rating was 10.00 out of 10.
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At the age of 20, I decided to donate blood. I thought, why not. I passed, and everything somehow turned out by itself - I became a volunteer and began to go to the oncohematological department of the Russian Children's Clinical Hospital. There I saw quite a few problems - and this despite the fact that the Podari Zhizn Foundation tried to plug all the holes to the maximum. And since I was in my senior year of journalism, I worked, I wanted to write about it. She proposed the topic of bone marrow transplantation to Esquire magazine, and the editors gave the go-ahead. , became one of my first medical texts.
At the same time, I decided to take advantage of the fact that my studak had not yet been taken away from me, and began to attend lectures at other universities and other departments of Moscow State University. Across the street from the faculty of journalism there are several departments of the First Honey, where I also started to go. I really liked the logic of the structure of the body, the logic of the structure of diseases. At school biology lessons were not so fun and clear. And it quickly became clear that there is a huge problem in medicine: there is no mutual understanding between doctors and patients - they are very angry with each other (despite the fact that there is either no reason for this at all, or everything can be easily fixed by just talking). And as a journalist, I could help change the situation a little. In addition, after the faculty of journalism, I began to feel sick from the humanities - I took up medical journalism, in which you can rely on cool sources and where there is not much room for a subjective attitude on the part of the author.
Conscientiousness, meticulousness and curiosity are, perhaps, the main qualities of a medical journalist. Here you just need to sit on the priest exactly every day, read a lot, look for confirmation of each fact and torment doctors with endless questions. Pretty tedious work, by and large. Yes, you constantly learn a lot of new and useful things, you go to places where outsiders are not allowed in hospitals, but basically this is a routine job. Probably, the life of a special correspondent or a sports journalist is much more fun and unpredictable.
However, for me personally, the most difficult thing is not the routine, but the incompetence of many colleagues. I hate to talk about it, because it always sounds like "everyone is an idiot, and I'm d'Artagnan", but there are really a lot of illiterate articles. And every time I see material without a single reference to sources about the fact that from the age of 30 you need to do an ultrasound of the mammary glands every year, or that acne occurs due to problems with the intestines, or that multivitamins are necessary for everyone, I want to “kill” . Probably because it is to some extent personal: a kind of war in the information space - I am trying to tell one thing, and colleagues, for some reason, contribute to the spread of obscurantism. And it's very painful to see. They certainly act without malice and sometimes they don’t even realize that they are hurting. This makes the fight even more ridiculous.
The main problem is not when the article says that this or that disease is treated with soda and urine (it seems to me that many people already understand that this is nonsense), but when it is written that you need to use certain drugs with solid names and for diagnosis to do a certain tomography, but if you look at it, it turns out that these are just bad recommendations. Ideally, of course, to protect yourself from this, you need to look for information in English and only on trusted sites. It's basically , and . Now there are a bunch of extensions that help translate individual words, sentences, or all text on the page. And pretty good quality. Yes, this, of course, complicates reading, but in essence, you just need to get used to it.
If I now list the minimum requirements for a good article, then I don’t know where you can find something in Russian that even remotely resembles or . Firstly, there should be links to high-quality sources (read: at least English-language, because English is the language of modern medicine). Secondly, there should be a date: when the article was published and (ideally) when it is going to be updated. In medicine, everything is changing very quickly, and, for example, a 2011 article on the treatment of hepatitis C will already be. Plus, over time, you will learn to identify marker words that betray the author’s poor work. This, for example, is already rather boring. To get some basic patient education and figure things out quickly, one can read everything.
I have two favorite friends with whom we make Namochi Mantu - Marianna Mirzoyan and Karina Nazaretyan (jokes about the Armenian mafia have long been joked). At one time, we agreed precisely because we were unbearably meticulous. This does not mean that we do not make mistakes - we make mistakes because we are people, but in general our approach is the same and it helps to give reliable information in articles.
I mostly read Russian-language articles on medical topics on Telegram and Facebook (with the exception of ). This, for example, is the telegram channel "" of medical journalist Olya Kashubina,. On Facebook, I read pediatricians Sergei Butriy, Fedor Katasonov and infectious disease specialist Evgeny Shcherbina. The gynecologist Tatyana Rumyantseva also has her own. There are also many good doctors on Instagram, but I still can’t figure out how to use this terribly inconvenient resource for reading texts.
It seems to me that, in principle, an ordinary person should not be aware of the latest research. I'll explain now. If you just love science, read on. If you want to apply this knowledge in practice, then no - in Russian, I can’t recommend anything like that. Usually in news publications, it's all sorts of slag like "Carrots save you from Alzheimer's disease" - you open it, and there is a study on mice or a study in which they found a correlation, not a causal relationship. Even if the study is good, there are still 283 studies on the topic that no one canceled. And you just have to go to , where articles are updated every month, to find out how this 284th study has affected the big picture. There is, of course, - everything is about evidence-based medicine, but this is not a large media outlet that does everything quickly and on all fronts.
It seems to me that the low level of health education in Russia is directly related to laziness and a lack of understanding that you yourself are responsible for your health. Here you have a headache, you go to the pharmacy, you say: "Give me something for the head." They give you some combination drug such as citramone. Accepted - helped. Then the head hurt again - you took it again. And if it happens often, you earn yourself a bully headache, that is, pain directly due to taking painkillers. And all because you took a simple path, considered that the pharmacist is responsible for your health, and not you yourself. I understand, of course, I would like to live in a world where everyone does their job well and you can outsource a lot of things, but the reality is that only the person himself can be responsible for his health. And it's difficult.
Probably, if we had such cool Russian-language sources as or, it would be easier. But in the States and in other English-speaking countries, people are treated with echinacea and homeopathic remedies.
It is difficult, of course, to talk about the reasons why many people, in case of malaise, do not want to go to the doctor or go to the clinic until the very end, but, most likely, the fact is that: a) you will certainly encounter rudeness - “how should I know, where is your card”, “you weren’t here”, “I just have to ask”; b) you will be healed, as they healed your grandmother. The experience of older relatives can really be quite sad: they diagnosed for a long time, treated, did not help, treated again, a lot of money and time down the drain, no health. Maybe it was the incompetence of doctors, or maybe that was the state of medicine at that time. Now, everything could change. Well, of course, if possible, it is better to go to a doctor who adheres to the principles of evidence-based medicine, and not to a random specialist in CHI or VHI. Here, by the way, I sometimes notice that people are being strangled by a toad. For example, there is good doctor, but he accepts in the private sector (this happens often). Suppose a patient, without any damage to his budget, can pay 3,000-5,000 rubles for an appointment. But since long time medicine for him was conditionally free (in fact, paid - for our taxes), then it is psychologically difficult to give that kind of money. At the same time, if you think about it, there is no logic in such a decision. So you go to a random doctor, he prescribes an MRI, ultrasound, blood and urine tests, pointless physical therapy and ten more strange drugs. As a result, you spend more than for an appointment with a competent doctor who would prescribe only what is necessary. But, I think, everything will change: it is impossible to step on this rake endlessly.
In general, everything turned out by itself: I was offered, and since I had some free time, I did not refuse and just did the usual journalistic work. And so the book "Killer Wallpaper, Poison Water and the Seductive Chair" appeared.
I have several thousand articles saved in Pocket. If I search there for something by the word sleep, I will find a ton good lyrics about all the possible and impossible aspects of this case. Also, American, British and Australian government organizations are doing a good job of conveying to people some basic, but very important rules. On their websites, for example, there are a lot of texts that meat should not be washed before cooking. Moreover, on one site there may be several pages devoted to this issue, with more or less the same content, but with slightly different wording. At first I was perplexed, and then a book came out, and every second comment under the materials about it was: “What kind of nonsense, how can you not wash this meat?” Then I realized: yes, they made the right decision there. We need to make videos about it, and memos, and FAQs, and just articles, and interviews - maybe this way people will be able to come to terms with this simple thought.
Five tips from Daria Sargsyan (after which you will want to read her book):
- Use fluoride paste.
- Throw away the washcloth and antibacterial soap.
- If the house has Small child and you love dogs, get a dog.
- Don't buy a filter without a water test.
- Do not be afraid of monosodium glutamate, GMOs, microwaves, toilet seats, coffee, hormonal contraception, as well as computer work and fried foods.
An intriguing title, isn't it?
I was looking for a book for a long time, so that everything was put together, some helpful tips housekeeping, cleaning and food.
Finally, she has been found. Daria Sargsyan is a journalist, I read one of her books, I liked it. But then again, how many doctors have so many opinions, so you don’t need to trust her 100%.
Killer Wallpaper, Poison Water, and the Seductive Chair is based on scientific research that can be found on American websites.
Let me tell you about interesting facts from the book.
I read the book in electronic form. Sometimes beautiful pink pictures with the contents of the chapter run through. Lots of footnotes on every page.
So, we choose the most common soap, tar only as prescribed by a dermatologist.
We change towels 1-2 times a week.
Wax comes out of the ear when we chew food. So you can't go deep. (By the way, they sell excellent ear sticks with a limiter, further than necessary, you will not climb )
About black dots.
Black dots are comedones (open acne), that is, a sebaceous plug in the hair follicle, which, due to contact with oxygen, has oxidized and turned black. Plus, there is melanin there - that is, it is not dirt that can be washed off. You can cope with black dots if you use products with benzoyl peroxide (look in a pharmacy) or 0.5–2% salicylic acid. This should be done for at least four to eight weeks.
In the morning, face cleansers can be omitted.
It is better to use a soft mechanical toothbrush with uneven bristles.
Use oral color tablets to control your dental care.
There are only 4 types of toothpaste, the rest is marketing.
Fluorine in the paste should be at least 1350 ppm.
The colored strip on the tube of paste has nothing to do with the naturalness or harmfulness of the paste))
Teeth should be brushed as soon as the first teeth appear to prevent cavities in childhood.
The irrigator does not remove plaque.
Throw away washcloths and body scrubs. Maximum - pumice stone for heels.
We do not use air fresheners!
This is the most interesting, in my opinion, from the first chapter. The second one is no less interesting.
The chapter includes articles on sleep and contraceptives. I don’t really know why the second one is here, but the author wrote about STDs in great detail.
HIV patients can sleep without protection by taking a pill, but this is expensive.
Water can be boiled as many times as you like.
Settle water and use filters.
People with weakened immune systems can only drink boiled water.
Do not drink herbal teas in large quantities!
The book describes in detail detox and melt water, mineral water, juice, smoothies, coffee, etc. I will not stop, the information for me seemed not very useful.
The benefits of antioxidants have not been proven.
In finished products, a small amount of monosodium glutamate.
GMO is safe. In general, the book has a lot of praise for all sorts of additives, sweeteners, preservatives. Not the first book I've seen about this. Did you know that the rice and potatoes on the market are GM foods?
From the book you will learn how to properly store food in the refrigerator. For myself, I learned some important information.
Variant with cold water and a microwave, I find it convenient.
Be sure to change filters in vacuum cleaners, air conditioners, wash air cleaners, change lamps periodically if you quartz the room.
At the computer, you need to blink more often and do exercises.
Vision does not fall from what you read or look at the phone.
Living on the 1st or 2nd floor is dangerous.
What should be in the first aid kit:
There is also a list of what should NOT be in the first aid kit.
A large section is devoted to animals, how not to get infected from them.
The most harmless animals in the house are rabbits and fish.
I shared with you interesting facts from the book in my opinion, I would like more. But what is in the book is undeniably important, there is something to think about. The author herself tries to live easily, and not to worry about every issue. Therefore, there is no need to turn the content of home life into an obsession.
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