Influences they call these medical tests to save lives. Here’s what you may not know.

The post looked basic enough: Kim Kardashian, hair drawn back into a ponytail, posed before MRI Wearing thickets of marked company logo dealing in prenuvo medical imaging.

“I recently did this scan @Prenovo and I had to tell you everything about this life -saving machine,” she wrote. She said that MRI could raise traces of cancer or other diseases.

But the post was too basic, thought Brooke Nickel, a researcher at the University of Sydney Public Health, when she saw him in August 2023. And what was possible, she wondered? The test can find a very early stage of cancer, which would lead to the fact that the patient would receive invasive treatment, even if he would never achieve something more solemn. Post Kardashian made it seem only the mountains.

This post and others like them, prompted Dr. Nickel to check how other celebrities and influences promote more and more popular medical examinations, such as MRI scans on the whole body. They also examined the positions about products that claim that they detect cancer in the blood or analyze the hormone associated with fertility, testosterone levels and intestinal microbiome.

The results of this study, which was studied by almost 1000 posts by Tiktok and Instagram from accounts with hundreds of millions of total observers, were Posted on Wednesday. The article stated that the overwhelming majority of these posts was misled, painting too pink image of these tests and rarely includes scientific evidence. Only 15 percent mentioned potential damage. And more than two -thirds came from accounts with financial connections with products, such as influential offering discounts and receiving sales commissions.

“If in this way patients get all their information, it is really unfortunate, because it is completely behaved, how medical tests are a novel frosty pair of sneakers,” said Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman, director of the Radiology Research laboratory laboratory at the University of California in San Francisco, who was not involved in the study.

One of the main fears of Dr. Nickel was that the test results can lead to excessive diagnosis or identification of problems that would most likely never cause symptoms or justified treatment. Excessive diagnosis can lead to high-priced and invasive procedures that the patient may not need.

“This is a complex concept for people that more information can be harmful,” said Dr. Michael Pignone, Vice -President of Quality and Innovation at the Duke University School of Medicine. “The apply of justice, why more information is not always better, often requires more than 140 characters.”

Some of the tests researchers looked at the advertised benefits that were not supported by evidence, such as the anti-Müller hormone test. Dr. Nickel said that a novel study showed that the positions are selling the test to newborn women as a way to assess their fertility potential. Women can act on the basis of their results and decide to freeze their eggs or undergo high-priced treatment, although AMH cannot reliably predict general fertility.

Dr. Smith-Bindman said it is possible that a test such as MRI on the whole body can save lives. But the huge majority of MRI carried out in patients who have no symptoms will probably lead to “finding things that have no benefits of finding,” she said.

Christine Alabastro, a spokeswoman for prenuvo, wrote in a statement for the time that “while conversations regarding excessive diagnosis are critical, our approach is aimed at maximizing significant insights while minimizing unnecessary interventions.” She added that one in 20 people who undergo preunvo scan “discovers potentially saving lives.”

Preunko does not pay anyone for the promotion of its products, but offers free or discount scans for thunderous and influential characters.

About half of the posts, which scientists clearly checked, encouraged viewers to conduct these tests themselves, despite the fact that there is no powerful evidence that they improve the results for fit people, the authors wrote. Some also encouraged consumers to buy specific treatment methods, such as testosterone replacement therapy.

“They sell it as a way to take control of your health and strengthening,” said Dr. Nickel.

Part of what these posts do so convincing, said experts, are personal stories that often shared influence, such as Mrs. Kardashian’s note, that the prefunvo scan saved her friends’ lives. About a third of the studied posts contained such an anecdote.

“It is really complex for someone to argue or look at scientific evidence when a person is in front of you and it is a story about how they took advantage of this test, or this test could change their lives,” said Dr. Nickel.

If you come across a post discussing medical tests on social media, ask yourself whether he is trying to convince you of something, and not just providing information, was suggested by Tara Kirk Sell, an elderly scholar who studies disinformation at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. You should also consider whether the post confirms what scientists do not yet know about a specific test or topic.

And remember that personal stories “evoke an emotional reaction” that attracts you, said Dr. Sell. “It can be for good reasons. It can be for bad reasons. But it’s a technique. “