Advanced Indexing

Unreported Side Effects of Drugs Are Found Using Internet Search Data

The researchers first identified individual searches for the terms paroxetine and pravastatin, as well as searches for both terms, in 2010. They then computed the likelihood that users in each group would also search for hyperglycemia as well as roughly 80 of its symptoms — words or phrases like “high blood sugar” or “blurry vision.”

They determined that people who searched for both drugs during the 12-month period were significantly more likely to search for terms related to hyperglycemia than were those who searched for just one of the drugs. (About 10 percent, compared with 5 percent and 4 percent for just one drug.)

Back in the day, I helped those geeks do subject determination on search terms.   Figure out what people were looking for.   They've improved the algorithm a bit.   Very cool.