A few days ago I got a text message on WhatsApp that claimed drinking more water than required may damage the kidneys. Although the message wasn't harmful in any way, and the sender was a close friend who passed it on with good intentions, there was no research or study cited to prove the claim. While there is, in fact, a phenomenon called overhydration, the message did not shed any light on the conditions in which it occurs and the reasons behind it.
As more and more people are moving towards alternative medicines, fake news and misinformation on medical treatment have the potential to do life-threatening harm. Dr Sumaiya Shaikh, a Sweden-based neuroscientist and currently the editor of Alt News Science, gives us a brief overview of the issue. She has recently co-authored a book titled ‘India Misinformed’ along with Alt News founder Pratik Sinha and Arjun Sidharth.
So listen to the second part of this exclusive interview which analyses the impact of the fake news menace in the field of medicine and how it can be tackled.