The Claim
Between 1993 and 2011, the diagnosis rates of thyroid cancer in South Korea increased by a factor of 15, while thyroid cancer mortality rates remained statistically unchanged during the same time period.
What the research says
Supports is higher
Support is ahead, but a single strong opposing study can change this.
These are independent scores, not a percentage. Higher-grade studies count more, so a single strong opposing study can outweigh several weaker ones.
In South Korea, doctors started finding a lot more cases of thyroid cancer between 1993 and 2011—15 times more—but surprisingly, the number of people dying from it didn’t go up at all.
See the scientific wording
Thyroid-cancer diagnosis rates in South Korea increased 15-fold between 1993 and 2011, while thyroid-cancer mortality rates remained unchanged during the same period.
What the research says
1 studyStudy: Korea's thyroid-cancer "epidemic"--screening and overdiagnosis.
Doctors in South Korea started checking people’s thyroids more often, so they found way more cases of thyroid cancer — but not more people were dying from it. That means many of those diagnoses were for cancers that never would’ve hurt anyone.
Score breakdown, mechanism chain, raw evidence, ideal studies needed & 1 supporting studies
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.