Language in Facebook FB, -0.32% posts can predict whether someone will develop diabetes and other conditions including depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse, sexually-transmitted diseases, and drug abuse better than demographic information like age, sex, and race, the study says.
People who often use the words “God” and “pray” in their Facebook posts are 15 times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than people who rarely use those terms on the platform, a new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine finds.
Type 2 diabetes, also known as adult-onset diabetes, occurs when the body develops a resistance to insulin, leading to high blood-sugar levels. Type 1 diabetes, or juvenile diabetes, occurs when the body stops or dramatically slows insulin production.