{"id":51422,"date":"2026-07-01T22:10:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T22:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/51422\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T22:10:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T22:10:08","slug":"article-falsely-claims-japanese-nobel-winner-cured-alzheimers-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/51422\/","title":{"rendered":"Article falsely claims Japanese Nobel winner cured Alzheimer’s disease"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, despite claims online that Japanese doctor Yoshinori Ohsumi won a Nobel Prize for discovering a treatment for\u00a0the neurodegenerative disease — a protocol said to have helped acclaimed actor and director Clint Eastwood. The false claim appears on websites using likely AI-generated content to create articles that appear to be from US broadcaster CBS’s flagship news program “60 Minutes,” but there is no evidence Eastwood’s son or the biologist ever gave an interview to Anderson Cooper who retired from the newsmagazine show in\u00a0May 2026.<\/p>\n

“Scott Eastwood Breaks Down After Japan’s Oldest Doctor Reveals His Father Completely Reversed Alzheimer’s,” the\u00a0article’s<\/a> headline reads. The content is attributed to a “60 Minutes” segment anchored by broadcast journalist Anderson Cooper<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The article goes on to relay a purported interview between Ohsumi and Cooper about how he cured the retired actor.<\/p>\n

\"<span>Screenshot<\/p>\n

Screenshot of an article caputed on July 1, 2026 with an AI watermark added by AFP<\/p>\n

Alzheimer’s disease<\/a> arises when proteins build up in the brain, causing cell death (archived here<\/a>). Medication<\/a> can slow cognitive decline, but there is currently no known cure for the disease, despite the article’s claim it can be reversed using “four natural ingredients” (archived here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

In addition to falsely claiming to have information about an Alzheimer’s cure, the article makes several other factual errors.<\/p>\n

It incorrectly describes Ohsumi’s discoveries that led to his 2016 Nobel Prize win<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 81-year-old Japanese biologist discovered the mechanisms of “autophagy<\/a>,” the process by which cells break down and recycle old or damaged cell parts.<\/p>\n

His work is not focused on “Toxoplasma gondii<\/a>,” a parasite the article claims causes Alzheimer’s (archived here<\/a>). The parasite can trigger confusion and headaches in people who are immunocompromised, but has not been linked to Alzheimer’s disease.<\/p>\n

There is also no evidence Clint Eastwood has publicly shared a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. Eastwood’s legal representatives declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Scott Eastwood has said<\/a> he lost his grandmother to the disease, but in a June 17, 2026 interview<\/a> with Men’s Health Magazine, he discussed<\/a> how his father remained healthy over his long life (archived here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a> and here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

“I mean, he’s 96. You know, clearly whatever he did worked,” the younger Eastwood said.<\/p>\n

AFP reached out to Scott Eastwood’s publicist for comment, but a response was not forthcoming.<\/p>\n

Inauthentic website<\/p>\n

At first glance, the article appears to be hosted on a CBS-linked website, but it is not authentic. Further exploration shows the site only hosts the false article and links on its navigation bar are not clickable.<\/p>\n

Keyword searches of the “60 Minutes” website<\/a> and episodes saved in the Internet Archive<\/a> did not yield any results for an interview between Cooper and Scott Eastwood or the anchor and Ohsumi. AFP reached out to CBS and Cooper’s press contact for confirmation, but responses were not forthcoming.<\/p>\n

The footer of the page reveals the site is copyrighted by Grupo Experience<\/a>, a health supplement company based in Brazil. This group’s website does sell products directly but prompts users to sign up for a mailing list and marketing messages via text.<\/p>\n

An image analysis by the Hive Moderation tool<\/a> of photos of the Eastwoods, Cooper and Ohsumi taken from the article found they were likely generated with artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

\"<span>Screenshot<\/p>\n

Screenshot from Hive Moderation taken on July 1, 2026<\/p>\n

\"<span>Screenshot<\/p>\n

Screenshot from Hive Moderation taken on July 1, 2026<\/p>\n

\"<span>Screenshot<\/p>\n

Screenshot from Hive Moderation taken on July 1, 2026<\/p>\n

\"<span>Screenshot<\/p>\n

Screenshot from Hive Moderation taken on July 1, 2026<\/p>\n

Ohsumi rarely makes public remarks, but\u00a0posts<\/a> falsely claiming he endorses certain health practices or products flood social media.<\/p>\n

A search of the Meta Ad Library shows Ohsumi’s name and work associated with a number of questionable advertisements promoted across Meta’s platforms, including the online sale of supplements for arthritis<\/a> and stress<\/a> relief (archived\u00a0here <\/a>and here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Read more of AFP’s reporting on health misinformation here<\/a>.<\/p>\n