COLUMBUS, Ohio — Plenty of people are absorbing information from TikTok—everything from news to advice.
Now, health care providers are raising concerns over one topic that has more than 400 million posts: gynecologic cancer, and doctors are issuing a warning.
It's video overload. Entertainment, information, connections, it can all be found on TikTok. For Shar Miller, it's a platform she chose to avoid after being diagnosed with cervical cancer.
"I didn't want to be misguided because I trusted my doctors and my team," she said.
Shar saved her questions for her doctor, but a growing number of young Americans are using social media to search for answers. It's a concern for Dr. Laura Chambers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, who is researching gynecologic cancer content on TikTok and other social media platforms.
She evaluated the top 500 gynecologic cancer posts and found 73% of those posts to be of poor educational value or misinformation.
"There was a tremendous amount of videos of people talking about unregulated supplements, vitamin supplements or herbal therapies or things like vaginal steaming to treat their cancers," Dr. Chambers said.
She's now urging patients to watch out for misleading posts, and if you have any questions, take it to your doctor.
"These posts just really highlight the things that our patients are going through and show that there are areas that we may need to do a little bit more to help support them," she said.
As for Miller, she is now sharing her cancer journey online. Her goal is to encourage others to talk to their doctors and provide hope.
"Let people in, let people help, and when you're at your weakest, don't give up," Miller said.
Dr. Chambers believes there are ways health providers and institutions can combat misinformation and address gaps in care. She's encouraging doctors and hospitals to create a community on TikTok to provide educational content that can be included in the conversation on the social media app.