We are constantly being bombarded with the newest health studies; and while we at ForMen aim to bring you the latest news, we always want to be careful about what we publish, and make sure we’re distinguishing the research duds from the results we should heed.
The New York Times recently printed an article to help us all be more savvy consumers of research. Here are some of their tips:
- Be wary if the study was just done on animals
If the study examined the effects of a therapy only on animals or in a test tube, we have very limited insight into how it will actually work in humans. You should take any claims about effects on people with more than a grain of salt.
- Carefully consider the studies done on humans
For studies involving humans, ask yourself: What method did the researchers use? How similar am I to the people it examined?
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- Trust randomized controlled trials if they apply to you
The most widely trusted approach is the randomized controlled trial. In the most basic randomized trial, individuals are randomly assigned to treatment (e.g., they get the new drug) and control (e.g., they get a placebo or nothing). If the individuals selected to participate in the trial happen to be very similar to you — similar ages, income, living environment and so forth — that increases the chances that the results would apply to you. But if you’re, say, a 65-year-old, middle-class New Yorker, a study whose subjects were poor 30-somethings in rural China may not translate to your experience.
- Your best bet is to wait it out
Ultimately, no single study is perfect, and one can never be absolutely sure study findings are valid and applicable to you. The best bet is to wait, if you can, until evidence accumulates from many studies using a range of methods and applied to different populations. Few things are miracle cures, but when one shows up, we’ll see its signature in not just one study, but in many. Yes, that can take time. But if you want solid evidence you can count on, you cannot also be impatient.
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Curated article from:
NY Times
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