Utah People's Post

The Latest News from the Beehive State

Tuesday, August 16, 2022
Log in
  • National News
    • Female Caseworker Killed & Doctor Shot in Philadelphia
  • State News
    • Car Chase Leads to Drug Arrest
  • Tech & Science
  • Health
    • How to Prepare For Ticks Season
    • Magical Weight Loss Bean Scam
  • Sports
  • Business
You are here: Home / Health / Many Americans believe in medical conspiracy, says survey

Many Americans believe in medical conspiracy, says survey

March 20, 2014 Posted by Contributor

A new survey results have found an interesting, still shocking, fact about the tendency of people about medical issues. The survey says, about half of American adults believe in at least one medical conspiracy theory.

For example, three times as many people believe U.S. regulators prevent people from getting natural cures as believe that a U.S. spy agency infected a large number of African Americans with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Study’s lead author J. Eric Oliver, who is from University of Chicago, thinks that people generally believe in conspiracy theories because they’re easier to understand than complex medical information.

“Science in general – medicine in particular – is complicated and cognitively challenging because you have to carry around a lot of uncertainty. To talk about epidemiology and probability theories is difficult to understand as opposed to ‘if you put this substance in your body, it’s going to be bad,'” he said.

The researchers involved 1,351 adults for the new study. They were asked to answer an online survey between August and September 2013. The data were then weighted to represent the U.S. population.

HIV_test

The participants were asked about six popular medical conspiracy theories. They were asked to indicate whether they had heard of them and whether they agreed or disagreed with them.

Some of the theories that were asked about were:  The government knows cell phones cause cancer but does nothing about it, that genetically modified organisms are being used to shrink the world’s population, that routine vaccinations cause autism and that water fluoridation is a way for companies to dump dangerous chemicals into the environment.

KEY FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

Some 49% of the survey participants agreed with at least one of the conspiracies.

37% of respondents who fully agreed that U.S. regulators are suppressing access to natural cures, less than a third were willing to say they actively disagreed with the theory.

With regard to the theory that childhood vaccines cause psychological disorders like autism and the government knows it, 69% had heard the idea, 20% agreed with it and 44% disagreed.

 

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Email

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: medical conspiracy, medical conspiracy theory

Woman working out at the gym

Just 23% of Americans Are Working Out Enough in Their Spare Time

June 29, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Poliovirus Therapy Gives Brain Cancer Patients New Hope (Study)

June 29, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

United Airlines airplane

Passenger Mysteriously Dies on United Airlines flight Bound for Boston

June 28, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Breakfast sandwich

Here Are Some Foods No Nutritionist Would Ever Eat

June 27, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Poppy flower

UN Warns of Surge in Opium-based Drugs and Cocaine Supply

June 27, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

U.S.-Canada border

French Jogger Detained 2 Weeks for Accidentally Crossing Border

June 26, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Plus size model

Normalizing Plus Size Could Fuel Obesity Crisis (Study)

June 25, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Giant manta ray

Unique Manta Ray Nursery Spotted off Texas Coast

June 23, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

The rainbow flag

WHO Scraps Transgenderism from List of Mental Illnesses

June 22, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

456 People Dead at U.K. Hospital after Taking too Many Painkillers

June 21, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Kenyan girls dancing

Kenyans Facing Poor Nutrition as Supermarket Shopping Is on the Rise

June 20, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Pages

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Staff
  • Terms and Conditions

Recent Posts

  • Just 23% of Americans Are Working Out Enough in Their Spare Time
  • Poliovirus Therapy Gives Brain Cancer Patients New Hope (Study)
  • Passenger Mysteriously Dies on United Airlines flight Bound for Boston
  • Here Are Some Foods No Nutritionist Would Ever Eat
  • UN Warns of Surge in Opium-based Drugs and Cocaine Supply
  • French Jogger Detained 2 Weeks for Accidentally Crossing Border
  • Normalizing Plus Size Could Fuel Obesity Crisis (Study)

Related Articles

  • Woman working out at the gym

    Just 23% of Americans Are Working Out Enough in Their Spare Time

    Jun 29, 2018
  • Poliovirus Therapy Gives Brain Cancer Patients New Hope (Study)

    Jun 29, 2018
  • Breakfast sandwich

    Here Are Some Foods No Nutritionist Would Ever Eat

    Jun 27, 2018
  • Normalizing Plus Size Could Fuel Obesity Crisis (Study)

    Jun 25, 2018
  • The rainbow flag

    WHO Scraps Transgenderism from List of Mental Illnesses

    Jun 22, 2018
  • 456 People Dead at U.K. Hospital after Taking too Many Painkillers

    Jun 21, 2018
  • Young woman affected by depression

    If You Have PTSD You Were Likely Abused as a Child

    Jun 19, 2018
  • Obese dog on a leash

    Obese Dogs Can Help Us Better Understand How Obesity Works

    Jun 18, 2018
  • Our Brains Are Craving Combinations of Fats and Carbs (Study)

    Jun 15, 2018
  • Hungry bird with beck open

    Scientists Explain Why We Get ‘Hangry’

    Jun 13, 2018

Categories

  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Health
  • National News
  • Nature
  • Provo
  • Salt Lake News
  • Science
  • Sports
  • State News
  • Tech & Science
  • Technology
  • Uncategorized
  • West Jordan
  • West Valley City
  • World

Copyright © 2022 utahpeoplespost.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Site Map · Contact