GPs<\/a> and oncology dietitians that this is pulling people away from the evidence-based changes to diet and lifestyle that can genuinely make a difference, while eating up precious time in NHS consultations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nSharon Moffat became a campaigner against ill-founded claims about alleged therapies to treat cancer after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter sharing my cancer diagnosis publicly I wasn\u2019t prepared for the influx of opinions, suggestions and advice that followed,\u201d she said. \u201cAlmost overnight people were recommending everything from special waters and supplements to products claiming to boost recovery or even cure cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of these recommendations came from a place of genuine care. Friends and family wanted to help and others had seen claims online that sounded convincing. When you\u2019re living with cancer, you\u2019re searching for hope and looking for anything that might improve your chances of getting better. I understood that instinct because I felt it too.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when I started asking what evidence supported some of these claims I often found there wasn\u2019t a clear answer. Some were being promoted by influencers with huge followings. Yet when questioned, I was met with vague responses, hostility or simply no answer at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moffat\u2019s experience has taught her that, for cancer patients, \u201cwhen fear is driving your decisions, the promise of a miracle cure can be incredibly tempting\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n
Rachel White, an oncology dietitian, said misinformation was a \u201cchallenging\u201d part of her job advising cancer patients.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatients are making changes to try to improve their health and survival, but what they often do not realise is the danger or harm they can be doing instead,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
It is now common for people with cancer to use supplements because they believe they will help them regain control over their health, she added. When discussing supplements with patients she tells them what the research evidence shows about them and talks about the risks and benefits.<\/p>\n
People worried about their health should always seek advice from a qualified doctor or other specialist, a government spokesperson said, responding to the WCRF\u2019s findings.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour health is too important to leave to social media and the internet,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cAlways speak to a qualified health professional before making decisions about your diet, supplements or treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe expect social media platforms to act swiftly and take action against misleading health content on their platforms. If you\u2019re concerned about something you\u2019ve seen online, you should report it following the platform\u2019s guidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n
The WCRF\u2019s survey also found that many NHS staff feel ill-equipped to counteract mistaken beliefs in unorthodox therapies that patients think work, for example that eating certain \u201csuperfoods\u201d most days or undertaking a dietary detox can reduce their cancer risk. It is urging ministers to use the forthcoming NHS long-term workforce plan for England to ensure that staff get the training and access to trustworthy resources to help them tackle the \u201cemerging crisis of misinformation\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Social media misinformation about the use of dietary supplements such as turmeric, St John\u2019s wort and magnesium is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":492055,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,85,46,543],"class_list":["post-492054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-nutrition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}