The danger of doctor TikTok: Why social media advice is risking lives

To show love and affection, penguins bring each other pebbles. You could argue that humans do something similar with their loved ones, in the form of what we share online, including health advice.

I qualified as a doctor nearly 20 years ago; today the online world of healthcare is like the Wild West. There’s been an explosion of wellness advice on social media, with a lack of regulation and oversight, and we’re seeing its impact in our clinics.

In our new BBC series, Clickbait Clinic with Stacey Dooley, Dr Alex George and I join Stacey to examine the science of so-called wellness trends that have an influence on so many generations, not just tech-savvy 20-somethings.

Just today, one of my patients told me she didn’t want to attend her mammogram because she’d seen content, from influencers on social media, claiming that the x-ray causes breast cancer. It’s important to state here, that it’s completely safe.

A 21-year-old woman with polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (formerly polycystic ovary syndrome) explained she’d come off the pill prescribed for her skin because TikTokers said it was a form of “propaganda”. As a result, she was struggling with pustular cystic acne.

I’ve also had several recent conversations with patients who believed the lie, also widely spread on social media, that eating well and taking herbal supplements will cure their cancer. Sadly, taking the holistic approach delays their treatment.

However, the medicaL establishment shouldn’t simply say, “What you’ve seen online is utter rubbish”. It’s important to address the cause of misinformation, and give people tools to assess it themselves. It’s crucial to use critical thinking and ask, “Is this safe? Is this evidence-based?”.

There are hundreds of viral trends, from the claim that drinking Borax laundry powder can cure joint pain (it won’t; it can kill) to the one that says dog deworming tablets can cure cancer (they won’t). We explore whether the textile dye Methylene blue can boost brain power; this gained notoriety when, in an online video, US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr added drops of a blue liquid into his drink, although the nature of the substance remains unconfirmed. We also probe the carnivore diet, popularised by Joe Rogan and Elon Musk – in which followers eat only meat products – as well as a claim that broccoli damages DNA (it doesn’t).

Wellness trends range from drinking laundry powder to textile dye

I make educational social media content on women’s health. Whether it’s HRT or birth control, I cite where I’ve sourced my information, my interpretation of it, and how that applies to clinical medicine. I urge anyone to think: why, what, where? Then if you know it’s utter rubbish, scroll past, report or delete it. Never use the TikTok algorithm or Chat GPT conversations to make decisions about your health. Always check any advice with a real-life, GMC-registered doctor.

Of course, I understand the appeal of the online world. It’s convenient and accessible. A woman might be experiencing perimenopause symptoms at 3am and she can, with one click, find information. The algorithm will then feed her more and more content.

It’s on-tap, it’s free and easy. Whereas queues to access a GP or 111 can be long. NHS resources are finite. It’s a fragile infrastructure with limited resources. We’re working with very little on more complex cases since the pandemic. But the misinformation being spread by some online influencers means we’re all affected and without proper governance it’s going to snowball.