Dr. Oz Wrong Advice - For many years, people all over the world have trustfully looked to celebrity TV doctors for advice on health issues (particularly weight loss, diet and exercise), but, a study by a group of British researchers shows that getting advice from 'some random guy' on your screen may be a regrettable decision as these medical experts often peddle half-baked truths and feel-good medical solutions.
The study published in the British Medical Journal randomly sampled medical advice from 160 episodes of two popular medical shows - The Dr Oz Show and The Doctors (80 episodes each). The researchers gathered over 400 medical recommendations from both shows and sought to balance them against the currently available research and best medical practices in the given areas.
They found out that while some of the medical recommendations on The Oz Show and The Doctors were based on "believable or somewhat believable" evidence, others - exactly "1 in 3 and 1 in 4" of the medical advice from both shows respectively - could not be adequately backed by research. According to the researchers, this is despite the fact that they were "quite liberal in the type and amount of evidence" they required.
"Recommendations made on medical talk shows often lack adequate information on specific benefits or the magnitude of the effects of these benefits. Approximately half of the recommendations have either no evidence or are contradicted by the best available evidence," the study reads.
The researchers also noted that people generally accept medical advice from TV doctors based on their trust in the person offering the recommendation rather than on a proper analysis of the pros and cons of the solution being offered.
The revelations of the researchers have sparked accusations that TV doctors such as Dr. Oz give wrong medical advice for entertainment and to increase their viewers. It remains to be seen if this study will have any effect on the award-winning Dr. Oz Show, which rakes in millions of viewers from across the world.
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