It seems to happen almost every day - you hear about a new result of medical research on television or read about it in the paper. Sometimes the results of one study seem to disagree with the results of another study.
It's important to be critical when reading or listening to reports of new medical findings. Some questions that can help you evaluate health information include:
- Was the study in animals or people?
- Does the study include people like you?
- Was it a randomized controlled clinical trial?
- Where was the research done?
- If a new treatment was being tested, were there side effects?
- Who paid for the research?
- Who is reporting the results?
National Institutes of Health
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Frequently Asked Questions about Clinical Research
(National Human Genome Research Institute) - http://www.genome.gov/10000771
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Understanding Risk: What Do Those Headlines Really Mean?(National Institutes of Health) - http://www.nih.gov/news/WordonHealth/apr2004/risk.htm
- Evaluating Medical Research Findings and Clinical Trials(Family Caregiver Alliance) - http://caregiver.org/caregiver/jsp/content_node.jsp?nodeid=402
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JAMA Patient Page: Basic Science Research(American Medical Association) - Links to PDF - http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/287/13/1754.pdf
Also available in Spanish http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/data/287/13/1754/DC1/1
- Media Doesn't Often Mention Pharma Funding on Research(09/30/2008, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_69886.html
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Chemistry of Health(National Institute of General Medical Sciences) - http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/chemhealth/
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Clinical Research & Clinical Trials(National Institute of Child Health and Human Development) - http://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/clinicalresearch/index.cfm
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JAMA Patient Page: Evidence-Based Medicine(American Medical Association) - http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/296/9/1192.pdf
Also available in Spanish http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/data/296/9/1192/DC1/1
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JAMA Patient Page: Medical Journals(American Medical Association) - http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/295/15/1860.pdf
Also available in Spanish http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/data/287/21/2898/DC1/1
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JAMA Patient Page: Supporting Medical Research(American Medical Association) - http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/294/11/1454.pdf
Also available in Spanish http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/data/294/11/1454/DC1/1
- Nanotechnology: The Size of Things to Come(Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2005/605_nanotechnology.html
- Placebo Effect(American Academy of Neurology) - http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/full/71/9/e25
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Living Laboratories: Using Model Organisms to Study Health and Disease(National Institute of General Medical Sciences) - http://www.nigms.nih.gov/Publications/modelorg_factsheet.htm
- Research Presentations at Scientific Meetings Receive Substantial Media Coverage, Often Unwarranted(American Medical Association) - http://www.medem.com/MedLB/article_detaillb.cfm?article_ID=ZZZKZYVN32D&sub_cat=631
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Glossary of Clinical Trials Terms(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/info/glossary
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National Human Genome Research Institute - http://www.genome.gov/
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National Library of Medicine - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/
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Findings(National Institute of General Medical Sciences) - http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/findings/
- Figuring Out Health News(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/teen/safety/safebasics/health_news.html
- Evaluating Health Information - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/evaluatinghealthinformation.html
- Personal Health Issues - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/personalhealthissues.html
- Social/Family Issues - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/socialfamilyissues.html