It's dangerous to rely on "YouTube videos" for cancer treatment

New York, November 27 (IANS) Researchers have warned that the most popular YouTube videos on cancer treatment offer misleading or biased medical information that may pose health risks to patients.

The study, which focuses on the 150 most viewed YouTube videos on prostate cancer, found that 77% had factual errors or biased content in the video section or in the comments section.

Although 75% of the videos provide a comprehensive description of the benefits of various treatments, only 53% are sufficiently aware of the disadvantages and potential side effects.

Another 19% recommended alternative or complementary therapies that have mostly not been proven.

"Our study shows that people really need to be wary of many YouTube videos about prostate cancer," said Stacy Loeb, an assistant professor at the School of Medicine at New York University.

"They contain valuable information, but users need to check the source for credibility and be cautious about the speed with which videos become obsolete, with care guidelines constantly evolving with science." she added.

The study published in the European Journal of Urology showed that the audience of these videos was important, with an average total audience of 45,000 people, but up to 1.3 million. More than 600,000 prostate cancer videos are published on the social media platform.

The videos cite a potentially dangerous example in which a video was promoting "injecting herbs" into the prostate to treat cancer, an assertion unsupported by medical evidence, the researchers noted.

In addition, only 50% of the videos analyzed describe "shared decision-making", the current standard of care for screening and treating prostate cancer.

According to the 2017 guidelines of the American Urological Association, men between the ages of 55 and 69 should talk to their doctor about the risks and benefits of screening for prostate cancer.

However, many popular videos pre-date this change and also encourage more aggressive treatment than that considered medically necessary for low-risk diseases, said Loeb.

She suggested that healthcare providers refer their patients to reliable sources of prostate cancer information and take part in video sharing platforms such as YouTube to produce content that offers information about prostate cancer. factual advice.

–IANS

RT / MAG / BG