Researchers warn social media promoting risky Alzheimer's blood test screening
University of Sydney study finds over one-third of posts promote biomarker tests for asymptomatic people, contradicting medical consensus.
What to know
- Over one-third of 188 analyzed social media posts promote Alzheimer's biomarker blood tests for asymptomatic people, contradicting global medical consensus that such screening should only occur in specific clinical circumstances.
- Accounts with financial interests were three times more likely to promote testing for healthy people; about 10% of promotional posts were from doctors, mostly US-based.
- A positive biomarker result does not predict dementia development, yet people testing positive face unnecessary anxiety, unclear treatment pathways, and psychological burden without evidence that treatments work in asymptomatic populations.
“Research on treatments has been done in people with mild cognitive impairment or dementia, so we don't know if they work for healthy people who test positive.”
Dr. Jenna Smith, University of Sydney public health researcher · The Guardian ↗ · Sep 14
Dr. Jenna Smith University of Sydney public health researcherProf. Susan Kurrle President, Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric MedicineAlzheimer's Association Peak neurological body
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Researchers highlight harms of unnecessary diagnosis and unclear treatment pathways
Smith identified multiple risks: healthy people testing positive for biomarkers may never develop dementia; treatments have only been tested in people with mild cognitive impairment or dementia, not asymptomatic people; and there is no clear clinical pathway for what to do after a positive test. She also cited psychological burden, insurance implications, and treatment side effects as concerns.
“Healthy people who undergo these tests could be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease but not go on to develop dementia. It is also not clear what to do next after testing positive.”
— Dr. Jenna Smith -
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https://www. theguardian.com/australia-news /2026/sep/15/researchers-warn-social-media-driving-harmful-misuse-of-alzheimers-blood-tests .
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background
Study finds over one-third of posts promote blood tests for asymptomatic screening — The analysis revealed that more than one-third of the 188 posts promoted Alzheimer's biomarker tests for people without symptoms, contradicting global medical consensus. About 10% of posts were from doctors claiming the test could be useful for asymptomatic screening, mostly from the US. Accounts with explicit financial interests were more than three times as likely to promote testing for asymptomatic people.
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background
University of Sydney researchers publish study on social media promotion of Alzheimer's blood tests — Dr. Jenna Smith and colleagues analyzed 188 posts about Alzheimer's or dementia and blood tests from accounts with a combined global audience of over 114 million followers across Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. The findings were published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society on Tuesday (September 10).
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first by The Guardian, 8d ago · also The University of Sydney, Mediaweek, Guardian
2 more headlines
- Social media spreading misleading claims about Alzheimer’s blood tests, study finds The University of Sydney · 8d ago
- Social media is spreading misleading claims about Alzheimer’s blood tests Mediaweek · 8d ago