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Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania published an AI analysis of nearly 150,000 Reddit posts and comments, with the paper published in JAMA Network Open. From about 40,000 users, the study identified about 14,000 who said they used the unapproved weight-loss drug retatrutide, of whom 7,823 reported symptoms that could be medically categorized. Among the categorizable symptoms, increased appetite was the most common, differing from the drug's appetite-suppressing design and from Phase 2 trial records that were dominated by gastrointestinal discomfort; compared with earlier analyses of semaglutide and tirzepatide, the related discussions mentioned appetite changes, sleep disturbances, elevated heart rate and muscle-related symptoms at higher rates. The researchers emphasized that these self-reports cannot prove that the drug caused the symptoms, nor can they confirm whether what users actually took was genuine retatrutide; the results are intended to generate hypotheses worthy of further verification.
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Oct 22
ScienceDaily
University of Pennsylvania used AI to analyze nearly 150,000 Reddit posts, finding unexpected symptom reports for the unapproved weight-loss drug retatrutide
A University of Pennsylvania team used AI to analyze nearly 150,000 Reddit posts and comments, identifying about 14,000 users out of roughly 40,000 who claimed to use the unapproved drug retatrutide, of whom 7,823 reported medically classifiable symptoms. Among the classifiable symptoms, increased appetite was the most common, differing from the drug's appetite-suppressing design and from Phase 2 trial records dominated by gastrointestinal discomfort; compared with previous analyses of semaglutide and tirzepatide, the related discussions mentioned appetite changes, sleep disturbances, elevated heart rate and muscle-related symptoms at higher proportions. The researchers emphasized that these self-reports cannot prove the drug caused the symptoms, nor can they confirm whether users actually took genuine retatrutide; the results are intended to generate hypotheses worthy of further verification, and the paper was published in JAMA Network Open.