Fake drugs, colds… 3 questions to Toubib, the pediatrician who doesn’t talk nonsense

It is not always easy to distinguish truth from fiction in everyday life, and even more so when you become a parent. Dealing with your children’s minor illnesses and ailments can really scare even the calmest child, and it’s important to find tools that allow us to step back and think calmly.

This is one of the missions of To be or not Toubib, pediatric emergency room doctor at a large hospital center in France. For several years he has been sharing recommendations and practical sheets for parents who find themselves a bit like a chicken in front of the knife when their heir is ill, to prevent them from turning to what we call Fake drugs. After a first book already published by Prime Edizioni entitled Emergencies or non-emergencies, here he is again with his new guide to distinguish the real from the fake in pediatrics: Is there a magic kiss? ?

On this occasion we asked him some questions about 3 hard-to-die myths in the sweet world of parenthood.

Would narrowing the gap between science and parents be a solution to preventing parents from turning to alternative medicines that can be both a money grab and downright dangerous practices?

To miss. Do we really always have to run after our son and tell him to put his hat on otherwise he’ll catch a cold or is there no point?

To be or not Toubib. You can run after the baby, it warms you up and don’t forget that you need to exercise as much as possible to keep fit!
On the other hand, there’s no need to run for fear of catching a cold because he doesn’t have a hat, scarf, down jacket, mammoth wool sweaters or anything else, it’s not really working. THE myth of the “cold” it is interesting because it shows that we have understood that two phenomena are connected: the goat feels sicker in winter when it is cold, but we are no longer able to establish the connections correctly.

In reality it is not so much about catching a cold as about catching one of the annoying viruses that circulate freely, especially in winter where temperatures better preserve these annoying little animals and where they weaken the delicate nasal mucous membranes of our children. .
Therefore, cold is a contributing factor, but not a cause. In fact, if you put the child alone in the snow, with no one around and without a virus-contaminated surface, he will not get sick. At least not from a viral disease. However, afterwards you risk having it again in ice cube mode, which I also strongly advise against.

Does taking vitamins during the winter really help the immune system or is it just money thrown out the window?

To be or not Toubib. So vitamins, parents love them. Vitamins are good for you, they give you a “boost” and sellers have understood this for some time.
Since vitamins are involved in a large number of things in our body, we can easily say that the more we have, the better.
Except, as always, it’s all a question of dose. If you take excess vitamins, you will have problems too.

Take the famous vitamin D, essential for the growth and strength of children’s bones. If you give it in excess you will calcify the kidneys which will consequently function much less well. Vitamin intake in winter, apart from vitamin D recommended for children up to 18 years old under strict conditions, is not of great interest. In reality, what is important is to have a balanced and healthy diet, with fruit and vegetables, which should provide you with what you need in vitamins. Food supplements, excluding medical prescriptions and specific pathologies, have no other interest than to make those who sell them gain weight.

In your opinion, why are counterfeit drugs so popular among parents? Who benefits?

To be or not Toubib. Fake drugs are popular because parents are AFRAID.
When we are parents, we worry every day that we are not doing the best for our child. We want him to be safe from illness, from pain, from everything that can harm him. It is unbearable for a parent to see their child suffer and this is understandable!

However, some child disorders require time and the child’s maturation to disappear. Teething, infant colic, GERD, etc… and what happens is that very often there is nothing else to do but cuddle, reassure and watch over your baby while he dies.
Some things may be given to overcome major milestones, particularly in the case of complicated GERD, but it is this “inaction” that will create a call for parents towards fake medications that claim to cure all these disorders that are cured naturally.
Fake medicine works so much better because we don’t need it to heal! As a result, a lot of opportunistic people saw it as an opportunity to make money off the back of their parents’ suffering/terror. It’s simply abhorrent: taking advantage of a parent’s fear for their child’s health.

All this will benefit not only these “therapeutic” people but also those who “train” them in private schools that promise success and professionalization when they are just piggy banks that serve only the purpose of maintaining a well-functioning system.
If we pushed things a little further, we could say that many of these fake doctors weren’t even aware that they had an unscientific CV based on nonsense. The victims are more numerous than we think…