JAKARTA - National Health Service (NHS) health workers, the UK's national health service, are now facing a new challenge in the consultation room. Many patients come with a belief in supplements, vitamins, or diets that have not been medically proven. The source is often the same, social media.
Launching a report by The Guardian, quoted Thursday, June 25, disinformation about supplements such as turmeric, St John's wort, and magnesium now appears so often that straightening out claims circulating on the internet has become a routine job for NHS clinicians.
A YouGov survey for the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) found two in five frontline health workers face patients bringing in false or misleading information about supplements at least once a week. Among nurses and midwives, the figure reaches 53 per cent.
The Guardian said the WCRF was concerned that public confidence in unproven diets, vitamins, and minerals was actually harmful to health. If patients abandon medically supported advice that is scientifically proven, the risk of developing cancer is feared to increase.
Dr Philippa Kaye, a general practitioner in the UK, said that almost every week she encounters the impact of health misinformation in her practice. Patients come with newspaper articles, social media screenshots, health site prints, and TikTok videos.
"What really worries me is the widespread belief that if something is sold freely, labeled natural, or endorsed online, then it is automatically safe and harmless, while prescription drugs are considered toxic," Kaye said, as quoted by The Guardian.
According to Kaye, this assumption is not true. A number of popular supplements have risks that are rarely known. Turmeric supplements, for example, are associated with liver injuries. St John's wort can interact with other drugs, affecting treatment. While magnesium has several types, and some of them can cause diarrhea.
Kaye emphasized that if a product has an effect on the body, it means that there are active substances in it. Active substances not only provide benefits, but can also cause side effects or interact with other drugs when used without the supervision of health personnel.
The WCRF surveyed 795 NHS staff ahead of Cancer Prevention Action Week which starts on Monday. Cancer specialists involved in the campaign judged public misunderstanding of health to be a serious problem. Over the next three years, they will focus on the dangers of health misinformation.
WCRF UK director Steven Greenberg, told The Guardian, many people believe in dubious claims about diet and supplements. Some information is twisted, detached from context, or delivered without explaining the risks.
"From horse dewormers to apricot seeds, which can cause serious cyanide poisoning, to everyday items like sugar and vitamin C, social media is flooded with false promises and dangerous claims about cancer prevention and cure," said Greenberg.
According to Greenberg, patients, nurses, general practitioners, and oncology dietitians all see the impact. Oncology dietitians are nutritionists who accompany cancer patients. Misinformation makes some people turn away from diets and lifestyles that have been scientifically proven to help reduce the risk of cancer.
Sharron Moffatt's experience shows why such claims are easy to believe. After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2024, she shared her condition with the public. Not long after, she was flooded with advice, ranging from special water, supplements, to products that claimed to be able to speed up recovery or even cure cancer.
Moffatt said most of the advice was born out of good intentions. However, when he asked for scientific evidence to support the claim, the answer was often unclear. Some claims were even promoted by influencers with large followings.
"When fear drives your decisions, promises of a magic bullet can be very tempting," Moffatt said, as quoted by The Guardian.
Rachel White, an oncology dietitian, told The Guardian that misinformation is now the most challenging part of her work. Many cancer patients use supplements because they feel that way can help them take back control of their health.
"Patients make changes to try to improve their health and chances of survival, but what they often don't realize is the harm or loss they can actually cause," White said.
During the consultation, White explained to the patient what was actually supported by scientific evidence, including the benefits and risks of using supplements.
Responding to the WCRF findings, a British government spokesperson reminded the public not to make social media the main reference for making decisions about health.
"Your health is too important to leave to social media and the internet," the spokesperson said.
The government also asked social media platforms to act quickly against misleading health content and encourage users to report content that is suspected of containing false information.
According to a report by The Guardian, the WCRF survey also found that many NHS staff felt they did not have enough resources to deal with patients' beliefs in unproven therapies, such as regularly eating so-called superfoods or undergoing a detox in the belief that it can reduce the risk of cancer.
The WCRF urges the UK government to take advantage of the NHS's long-term workforce development plan so that health workers receive training and access to reliable information sources. This step is considered important to help them deal with the growing wave of health misinformation.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
