We analyzed almost 1,000 posts on social media about 5 popular medical tests. Most were completely misleading

When Kim Kardashian Posted on Instagram That she had MRI from her whole body, she delighted that the test could be “saving life”, detecting diseases in the earliest stages before the appearance of symptoms.

Kardashian has neglected that there is no evidence that this road scan could benefit healthy people. She also did not mention that this could carry damage, including unnecessary diagnoses and inappropriate treatments.

Bearing in mind this post, we wanted to examine what influential told us about medical research.

IN New study Published today in Jama Network Open, we have analyzed almost 1000 posts of Instagram and Tiktok on five popular medical tests that can do more harm than good for fit people, including MRI scanning on the whole body.

We discovered that the overwhelming majority of these posts was completely misleading.

5 controversial tests

Before we get to the details of what we found, a bit Five tests included in our study.

Although these tests may be valuable to some, all five carry the risk of excessive diagnosis in generally fit people. Excessive diagnosis is a diagnosis of a state that would never cause symptoms or problems. Excessive diagnosis leads to excessive treatment, which may cause unnecessary side effects and stress for a person, and wasted resources for the healthcare system.

For example, estimates suggest that 29,000 cancers are excessively diagnosed in Australia a year.

Excessive diagnosis is a global problem and is partly driven by fit people with such tests. They are often promoted under the guise of early screening as a way to “take control” of your health. But most fit people just don’t need them.

These are five tests that we looked at:

. All body MRI scan Testing claims up to 500 states, including cancer. However, there are no proven benefits from the scan for fit people and the real risk of unnecessary treatment with “with”false alarm“Diagnosis.

. “Timer Egg Timer” test (Technically known as AMH or a fog hormonal test) is often falsely promoted as a fertility test for fit women. Although this may be beneficial for women as part of the fertility clinic, it cannot be reliable A chance to conceive a womanOr The beginning of menopause. However, low results may Increase fear and anxietyand lead to unnecessary and exorbitant fertility treatment.

Early detectable blood tests in the field of multi -purpose They are strongly sold as “a holy grail of cancer detection”, with claims that they can view over 50 cancers. In fact, clinical trials are still far away from the end. Is There is no good evidence yet that the benefits exceed the damage of unnecessary diagnoses of cancer.

. Intestinal microbiome test Your stool promises “well -being” by detecting many conditions early, from flatulence to depression, again Without good evidence in favor. There are also fears that the test results can conduct wasted resources.

Testosterone testing In fit men, he is not supported by any high quality evidence, with advertising concerns directly to the consumer He leads men to test and unnecessarily taking the therapy of substitute testosterone therapy. The exploit of replacement therapy of testosterone has its own risk of potential damage with long -term safety in relation to diseases and heart rate Still largely unknown.

What we found

Together with the international group of health researchers, we analyzed 982 posts on the above tests from all of Instagram and Tiktok. The posts we looked at came from influential and account holders from at least 1000 followers, some with several million followers. In total, the creators of the posts we placed had almost 200 million followers.

Even discounting of bots, this is a huge impact (and probably does not reflect their actual range for non -followers).

The enormous majority of positions were misleading, not to mention the possibility of harm resulting from one of these tests. We found:

• 87% of the positions listed in the test benefits, while only 15% mentioned potential damage

• Only 6% of positions mentioned the risk of excessive diagnosis

• Only 6% of posts discussed all scientific evidence, and 34% of posts used personal stories to promote the test

• 68% of receipt and account holders had financial interests in promoting the test (for example, partnership, cooperation, sponsorship or sales for their own profit in some way).

Further analysis showed that doctors were slightly more balanced in their positions. It is more likely that they mentioned the damage to the test and they have a very promotional tone less often.

Like all studies, ours had some restrictions. For example, we did not analyze the comments related to posts. They can give further insight into information on these tests and how social media users perceive them.

Nevertheless, our findings add to Growing evidence Showing misleading medical information is widespread in social media.

What can we do about it?

Experts proposed a number of solutions, including preliminary strategies, which means a proactive educational of society about common disinformation techniques.

However, such solutions often cause responsibility to the individual. And with all information in social media for navigation, this is a great question, even for people with appropriate health skills.

Street regulations are urgently needed to prevent the misleading of information created and made available primarily. This is particularly essential, considering that social media platforms, including Instagram, are moving away from checking facts.

In the meantime, remember that if information about medical tests promoted by influential people sound too good to be true, it is probably so.