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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Health & medicine fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about health & medicine. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

13,677 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYHealth & medicine

Mother seeking help for the treatment of her son.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a circulated photo of a crying woman holding a boy’s photograph and an Aadhaar card. It identifies her as the boy’s mother and presents the image as a plea for money to treat her son. FACTLY reports that the image was shared on Facebook in September 2018 and says its investigation found the image had been altered. The review describes two checks: a reverse-image search of the image, which returned no credible information, and a reverse-image search after cropping it. That second search found an earlier Facebook post, dated April 1, 2017, showing the same woman but a different boy’s photograph fitted into her hand. The post identified the woman as Sanju Devi, from Rajopura village in Sheikhpura district, and said her eight-year-old son Sagar Kumar had gone missing after reportedly going to school on March 29, 2017. It also said she had reported the disappearance to Chewad Police. The earlier post’s account could not be verified, according to FACTLY, so the review does not establish what happened to the boy. Its narrower conclusion is that the treatment-appeal image is edited: the same underlying photo appears with different boys’ photographs, and the boy’s image in the treatment-appeal version does not fit properly in the woman’s hand.

BR24 FaktenfuchsHealth & medicine

Eine Studie des US-amerikanischen National Toxicology Programs (NTP) zeigt an Ratten laut der Autoren eine "expositionsbedingte klare Evidenz für das Auftreten von Herztumoren und eine mäßige Evidenz für das Auftreten von Hirntumoren und Erkrankungen des Nebennierenmarks bei männlichen Ratten".

Publisher’s rating: Umstritten. Das Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz zieht die Studie in Zweifel. Andere sehen darin durchaus Hinweise auf eine mögliche Gefährdung des Menschen.

台灣事實查核中心Health & medicine

內容農場文章「5歲男童老玩電子產品，導致黑眼珠逐漸消失」？

Publisher’s rating: 錯誤

The claim concerns a content-farm story that a five-year-old boy developed strabismus after using electronic devices, leaving his black pupil nearly out of sight. The Taiwan FactCheck Center traced the story’s changing versions and consulted an ophthalmologist about whether device use causes the condition. The review reports that the story first appeared on Tencent in China in 2016, describing a boy called Xiaopeng. Later versions changed the child’s name and accompanying photograph. In the version published by a Traditional Chinese content farm on September 7, 2019, the boy was called Xiaoxie, though the article later referred to him as Xiaocheng. The review also reports that image searches found earlier versions using the other boy’s photograph. An ophthalmologist examined the two photographs and confirmed that both boys pictured had strabismus. But she said that looking at electronic devices does not cause strabismus: typical causes include congenital abnormalities in eye-muscle function or symmetry. She also explained that focusing can cause a temporary inward-eye appearance in children with severe congenital farsightedness, which is not a permanent change. Thus, confirming that photographed children had strabismus did not establish that device use caused it; the review’s medical evidence contradicts that causal claim.

台灣事實查核中心Health & medicine

網傳「白醋泡腳可消除疲勞...治理灰指甲...增加血液循環...協調交感神經、副交感神經」？

Publisher’s rating: 錯誤

The review examined an online article and social-media posts claiming that soaking feet in white vinegar could treat fungal nail infection, relieve fatigue, improve circulation and oxygen delivery, and regulate the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. It consulted dermatologists and a physician from a traditional Chinese medicine department about those specific claims. On fungal nail infection, the consulted dermatologists said vinegar could not eradicate fungus beneath the skin’s surface and was not an effective treatment; they recommended antifungal medication or clinician-guided treatment instead. The review also describes a study using 5% acetic acid: the reported pH range was about 3.3–4, while killing the fungus tested required a pH of 3 or lower. The review warns that stronger acidity could damage skin and nails, and that vinegar can cause irritation or inflammation. For circulation and fatigue, the review reports that vinegar is water-soluble and has limited ability to penetrate the skin, while blood vessels lie below the surface. A physician said the warmth of hot water, rather than vinegar, can promote circulation; the review likewise attributes any fatigue relief to hot-water soaking, not vinegar penetrating the skin. The consulted dermatologist also said vinegar could not reach the deeper nerves in a way that would coordinate their activity. The report’s conclusion is therefore about the claimed effects of vinegar, not a claim that warm-water foot soaking has no effects.