Kim Kardashian has 358 million followers on Instagram, who may have seen her post about getting a full-body MRI. While she claimed in her post that this type of MRI might be "life-saving," because it can identify early stages of some diseases, she didn't bother to add that there is actually no evidence that getting a full-body MRI will benefit healthy individuals. The test could also bring unnecessary risks, and may lead to an incorrect diagnosis or unneeded treatment, which are other problems that Kim K neglected to post about.
Scientists have done some research about the potential impact of Instagram and TikTok posts regarding five diagnostic tests like a full-body MRI that come with potential harms to healthy people. The vast majority of these posts were found to be totally misleading. The findings have been reported in JAMA Network Open.
Diagnostic tests are crucial. But they can also cause people without health problems to get a diagnosis for a condition that is not causing symptoms, or an overdiagnosis. These over-diagnoses can cause over-treatment, which may lead to side effects or real health problems.
For example, it has been estimated that as many as 29,000 cases of cancer are overdiagnosed in Australia. This is a global problem, however, caused in part by healthy people that get unnecessary tests.
This research focused on five tests that can sometimes be useful: full-body MRI scans, cancer blood tests, gut microbiome tests, the "egg-timer" test for women, and testosterone testing for men. Right now, these tests are not generally useful, but you wouldn't know that from a look at social media.
The investigators looked at almost 1,000 posts from accounts with more than 1,000 followers, with some having over one million followers.
Most posts that were analyzed were misleading, and did not even mention potential harms. Benefits of the test were stated in 87% of posts, and 34% promoted the test with a personal anecdote. Only 6% mentioned a risk of overdiagnosis, and only 6% outlined scientific evidence related to the test. But 68% of posters had a financial stake in the promotion, like a sponsorship.
While there are claims that a full-body MRI scan can diagnose as many as 500 conditions, there is no evidence that healthy people benefit from this scan. There is, however, some evidence that it can cause incorrect diagnoses, or false alarms.
Although there are some blood tests that now claim to screen for more than 50 cancers, the clinical trials evaluating the accuracy of these tests are incomplete. There is still not enough evidence that they won't lead to unnecessary and potentially harmful cancer diagnoses or treatments.
There is plenty of evidence that has shown that the human gut microbiome is closely connected to human health. But there is still not enough information about the microbes in the microbiome and what they do to have useful diagnostic tests regarding the gut microbiome. Such tests may one day be available, but any that claim to identify connections between the microbiome and certain health conditions are not reliable right now.
The "egg timer" test is a test for anti-mullarian hormone (AMH), and has been falsely promoted as something healthy women can use to check fertility. However, it is not a reliable predictor for whether a woman can conceive or whether menopause may be occurring. It could lead to unnecessary fertility treatment.
Scientific research also does not support testosterone testing for healthy men, thought advertising for these tests is thought to drive unnecessary testosterone replacement therapy treatments. These can carry their own risks.
While better public education might help discount some of this promotion, there seems to be a need for better regulations so that misleading medical information is not disseminated so widely. Unfortunately, social media companies are moving away from fact-checking and shirking responsibility.
Sources: Medical Express via The Conversation, JAMA Network Open
