How can HTML content retrieved from a database impact the display of data in a PHP script?

When HTML content retrieved from a database is displayed in a PHP script, it can cause issues with the formatting and layout of the data. To solve this problem, you can use the PHP `htmlspecialchars()` function to escape special characters in the HTML content before displaying it on the webpage. This will ensure that the HTML content is rendered as text and not as actual HTML code, preventing any potential security vulnerabilities.

<?php
// Retrieve HTML content from database
$htmlContent = "<p>This is some <strong>HTML</strong> content</p>";

// Escape special characters in HTML content
$escapedContent = htmlspecialchars($htmlContent);

// Display escaped HTML content
echo $escapedContent;
?>