Understanding Medical Research – Part 2 – Types of Research

fgTYPES OF MEDICAL RESEARCH STUDIES

Warning: This post is a bit technical and very long. It may be more useful as a reference, should you happen upon a medical research study and want to understand some of the terminology better.

There is a vast body of medical research papers and reports available on-line. The abstract is almost always free and the paper itself is frequently free. There are two sources, PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed) and Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com/). They both appear to have effectively all the research available on-line, but Google Scholar has one big advantage: If the full paper can be found outside a pay-wall, Google Scholar will show it. On the other hand, PubMed has a more elaborate search engine.

Insulin Therapy for Adult Onset Diabetics

Insulin Therapy Should Be Illegal

Some things make me want to scream. In Adult Onset (Type II) Diabetes, glucose regulation has hit the limit. Normally, if the body consumes glucose (sugar or starchy food), the blood Insulin therapyglucose level will rise. In response to this, the body will secrete insulin in an attempt to regulate and bring glucose levels down to around 80 mg/dl. This is about a teaspoon of sugar in the 5 quarts of blood most people have. This is a pretty critical level and important for overall health.

Are New Drugs a Hopeless Search for the Fountain of Youth?

THE ENDLESS SEARCH FOR THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH

The Search for the Fountain of Youth continues, only, instead of an elixir, it will take the form of a pill, (better shelf-life, lower shipping costs, better profits, etc.) People expect pills will be found to make them well. This is ingrained, and is indeed the case for antibiotics.miracleCure

However, a lot of modern disease does not involve a bacterial or viral infection. Most, perhaps as much as 90%, is the result of a biological system that is overloaded to such an extent that its natural response is as if there were an invading pathogen. Here I am talking about cancer, heart disease, and adult onset diabetes. All of these diseases are either caused directly, or strongly promoted by, a lifestyle that floods cells with excess sugar, excess insulin, excess fat, excess cortisol, and many other hormones.

Stem Cell Basics – Replacement Organs

Your Own Stem Cells Could Grow a Replacement Organ. All About Stem Cells.

Stem cells likely foretell the death knell of the transplant industry. The ability to grow new tissue from one’s own stem cells is already in use and will burgeon into a huge new medical area. Furthermore, no embryonic stem cells are used, so that controversy is completely avoided. Recently, researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital have made fully functional tiny humanstem_cells_home stomachs. There is also significant progress with livers, kidneys, and other assorted organs and tissues. These stem cells are forming complex structures that would certainly be suitable for grafting and one day, no doubt, suitable for replacement parts. There are, needless to say, numerous technical details to be worked out (like getting arteries and nerves to grow into the replacement organ), but few doubt this is a significant part of medicine’s future.

Statins Benefit No One

Lowering LDL Cholesterol is a Bad Idea

It is widely known, and can be found on many major medical web sites, that high LDL cholesterol causes heStatinsart disease. However, this is false. There is abundant research available today confirming that this is false, but the notion persists. Small LDL particle size is associated with heart disease; so is homocysteine, CRP, high insulin, high glycated-proteins, A1c is an example, high Lp(a), immature HDL particles, high iron stores and more. The list of things associated with developing heart disease is long and none of them are dispositive. As a kind of fun fact, know that low cholesterol is associated with everything from depression to cancer. Lots of excuses for this association are made by the statin apologists but no one actually knows what the link between low cholesterol and these other diseases might be.

The Effects of Popular Supplements

THE EFFECTS OF SPECIFIC SUPPLEMENTS

In an earlier post on contaminants found in various over the counter supplements, found here, a reader asked for a review. First, let me state that supplements should be considered the same as prescription drugs and should be ‘prescribed’ only if needed.Supplements

Most people look at supplements and vitamins with this specific mindset:

  1. It couldn’t be dangerous if it is available over the counter.
  2. It might help, but no harm done if it doesn’t.

Understanding Medical Research – Part 1 – Spotting Doubtful Research

Four Warning Signs of Bogus or Doubtful Medical Research

Some medical research is deliberately misleading. Some supports a political agenda. Some supports a commercial agenda. Here we explain how to separatepart 1 the wheat from the chaff, or if you are a low carb type, how to find that diamond in the rough. A lot of the popular medical press, this includes major media outlets, quotes medical research results rather indiscriminately, so it helps a lot to have a sharp focus on what the actual results mean.