Most social media medical advice is misinformation

Most social media medical advice is misinformation

Most health-related social media posts from top influencers are misleading, lack medical evidence, and are biased by financial backing, a new study shows. What can you do to protect yourself against misinformation?

Many claims about medical tests made by famous influencers on social media are false, according to a review by researchers in Australia, who are now calling for better regulation of the content.

We analysed almost 1,000 social media posts about 5 popular medical tests. Most were utterly misleading

87% of posts mentioned the benefits of the tests, while only 15% mentioned potential harms.

Influencers promoting ‘overwhelmingly’ misleading information about medical tests on social media

Influencers have been found to be promoting “overwhelmingly” misleading information about medical tests on Instagram and TikTok in a global University of Sydney-led study.

We Analyzed What TikTok Says About Medical Tests And Got a Nasty Shock

When Kim Kardashian posted on Instagram about having had a full-body MRI, she enthused that the test can be "life saving", detecting diseases in the earliest stages before symptoms arise.

We Analyzed What TikTok Says About Medical Tests And Got a Nasty Shock : ScienceAlert – Monkey Viral

When Kim Kardashian posted on Instagram about having had a full-body MRI, she enthused that the test can be “life saving”, detecting diseases in the earliest stages before symptoms arise. What Kardashian neglected to say was there’s no evidence this expensive scan can bring benefits for healthy people. She also didn’t mention it can carry […]