Can Reddit Reveal GLP-1 Side Effects that Clinical Trials Miss? With Neil Sehgal
What can hundreds of thousands of Reddit posts tell us about the side effects of GLP-1 medications?
In this episode of Causes or Cures, I talk with researcher Neil K. R. Sehgal about his recent study examining self-reported side effects of semaglutide and tirzepatide, commonly known by brand names including Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound.
Neil and his colleagues used AI to analyze more than 410,000 Reddit posts mentioning the medications. Among users who reported taking them, researchers found plenty of familiar side effects, particularly gastrointestinal symptoms, but they also identified potential signals involving fatigue, menstrual changes, and temperature-related symptoms such as chills and hot flashes.
We talk about why clinical trials can't capture every possible side effect before a drug reaches the broader population, how AI can sift through enormous amounts of online conversation, and why finding a signal on Reddit is not the same thing as proving that a medication caused it.
We also get into a bigger question: Could social media eventually become a useful early-warning system for drug safety?
In this episode, we discuss: why Neil turned to Reddit to study GLP-1 experiences; how AI analyzed more than 400,000 posts; which potential side-effect signals emerged; the difference between correlation, a safety signal, and causation; how researchers distinguish genuine signals from social-media influence; and how AI and online communities could complement traditional pharmacovigilance.
About Neil: Neil K. R. Sehgal is a researcher affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Computer and Information Science and Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. His research includes using large-scale digital data to better understand patient experiences and healthcare. He led the analysis and was first author of the study discussed in this episode.
Read the study:
Self-reported side effects of semaglutide and tirzepatide in online communities — Nature Health
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