Many people now use social media to learn about health, but not all the information online is correct.
A new study from Oxford University Press, published in the journal Rheumatology Advances in Practice, looked at TikTok videos about gout and found that a large number of them were misleading, inconsistent, or just plain wrong.
Gout is a type of arthritis that causes pain, swelling, and redness in the joints. It happens when the body has too much urate, a natural substance found in the blood. When urate builds up, it can form sharp crystals in the joints, which leads to very painful attacks.
Around 41 million people in the world have gout, and each year, about 7 million new cases are diagnosed. Even though it is common, many people don’t fully understand how it works or how to treat it properly.
Doctors who treat arthritis say that long-term urate-lowering medicine is the best way to manage gout. These medications help keep urate levels low to prevent future attacks. But many patients do not receive this treatment or are not aware of it, partly because of the way gout is explained online.
The study focused on TikTok, one of the most popular social media apps, with over 1.2 billion users worldwide. Many people now turn to TikTok to learn about their health. In one survey of young women aged 18 to 29, about 70% said they searched for health information on TikTok, and 92% said they came across health content even when they weren’t looking for it.
To learn more about what people are seeing on TikTok, researchers searched for “gout” on TikTok’s discover page and reviewed the first 200 videos that showed up on December 5, 2024. About 27% of the videos were posted by people who have gout or their family members, 24% by health professionals, and 23% by other members of the public.
The videos served different purposes. Some gave health advice, others shared personal experiences, and some were used to sell or promote products. Many videos focused on diet and lifestyle.
About 45% of them mentioned gout risk factors, and of those, 90% blamed diet or lifestyle choices. A larger portion, 79%, talked about how to manage gout. Most of that advice was about changing your diet.
Some videos gave advice on what foods to avoid, like salt, alcohol, and red meat. Others promoted supplements or herbal pills, claiming they were made from “pure herbs” with “no side effects.” These products were often sold directly to viewers.
Surprisingly, very few videos mentioned medical treatments for gout. Only seven of the 200 videos talked about prescription medicines, and most of those only mentioned short-term pain relief. Just two videos discussed the long-term urate-lowering therapy that doctors say is the best way to manage gout.
This lack of accurate information can lead to harmful beliefs. Many TikTok videos made it seem like gout is caused only by poor food choices, but this is not true.
While food and alcohol can affect gout, other things like genetics, body weight, and kidney function are much more important. If people think they got gout just because of their lifestyle, they might feel ashamed or not seek proper medical help.
The researchers say that TikTok is a missed opportunity. Most of the advice shared about gout doesn’t match what doctors recommend.
While diet changes can help a little, they are not enough by themselves to control gout in the long term. Many videos focused on supplements or herbal remedies, and some even used logos or symbols to make the products look more official or medically approved.
Still, experts believe TikTok could be a useful tool to spread better health information. Samuela ‘Ofanoa, the lead author of the study, said that health professionals should create more content for platforms like TikTok. By doing so, they can help correct false beliefs and share advice that matches what medical experts know works best.
In the end, the study highlights how social media plays a big role in how people understand health, but also how important it is to make sure that information is correct. When it comes to managing gout, science-based care—not just online advice—is what really helps people feel better.
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