In the age of social media The misinformation on medical issues is much spreading faster than the “doctors” that each charlatan has sold their previous centuries.

A new study published in the scientific journal Jama Network Open He finds that about 85% of social media posts on various medical examinations are misleading or even promoting potentially harmful medical advice.

“The evidence we examined demonstrates the need for a stricter legal framework for misinformation on medical issues on social media,” research writers said.

Social media mislead

Researchers point out that social media posts lead many people to the illusion that they are suffering from illness and therefore contribute to increasing demand for treatments that in fact “patients” do not even need. According to experts, this is a highly dangerous health.

The so-called “over-diagnosis” results in the wasting health resources that would otherwise be used to treat real diseases-and thus there is “diagnosis” or “underlying” in real health threats. In addition, unnecessary treatment can cause complications in the “patient”, such as headaches or other symptoms.

Researchers analyzed 982 posts by various influencers On Instagram and Tiktok with more than 200 million followers, focusing in particular on publications on medical examinations such as magnetic resonance imaging and testosterone tests.

Only 15% of all these posts pointed out that the exams proposed might have had an impact on human health.

The role of financial incentives

Almost all of the present influencers did not have the necessary medical cognitive background to provide valid information on issues concerning their posts. Only 6% of the posts also included some kind of medical evidence.

On the contrary, influencers seem to tend to rely on anecdotal evidence or to choose specific medical elements that match the respective medical examinations.

Thus, social media is promoted for example the premature detection tests of various types of cancer or tester for the gut microbiome, which are absolutely necessary – but without the relevant evidence.

“It is clear that new information on misleading information in about 1,000 posts make it necessary to take measures to address the over-diagnosis and excessive use [ιατρικών εξετάσεων και φαρμάκων]”, Observes the authors of the research.

At the same time, during the study it was also found that more than two -thirds of influencers have financial incentives to promote the medical test – so they are likely to be biased in the information they provide, exaggerating the need for the examination of each examination.

How can we protect ourselves?

No matter how difficult it may be, there are many things that each user can do in order to find reliable and scientifically well -founded health advice on the Internet, but also to protect it from misinformation.

According to experts, we can:

To cross the sources: We should always check the background of the person who gives medical advice.
Critically treat the content we see and examine whether the information is based on scientific data from prestigious sources.
Make our own Fact-Checking, utilizing valid sources available online, such as its NHS websites.
Before republishing a post, considering that its content is untrue or even potentially harmful, having apparently first checking the validity of the information mentioned therein.
At the same time we can “train” around the use of social media by playing various online educational games, such as Spot The Troll and Bad News, through which we learn how to identify false information in social media publications.

Curated by: George Passas