Helpful tips to be Your Own Best Medical Researcher

by Rick Davis | Jul 29, 2024 | Active Surveillance PCa, AYA, Blood Cancers, Brain Tumors, Cancer Caregivers, Cancer Resources, Complementary Medicine, Health Resources, Low/Intermediate Prostate Cancer, Men's Breast Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, Ovarian Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Recent News, RMC, Sarcoidosis, Thyroid Cancer, Women's Breast Cancer

Helpful Tips to be Your Own Best Medical Researcher

AnCan asked Mike Wyn, a valued AnCan Frequent Flyer and intrepid researcher, to provide a little navigation to those who are new to research… as well as useful tips for some old hands like myself. I’ve already gathered some research nuggets from Mike’s wisdom… thank you, Mr. W.

Here are a few tips ensure the medical information you are researching is reliable and accurate

Book Research

Check the publication date: authors may need at least a year to write a book, and the average time between a book’s acceptance and its publication is typically between 9 to 12 months. Hence, the data may already be outdated when it hits the shelves

Professional Presentations

Check the credentials, disclaimers, and disclosures of the presenters. Who is the author? What is the sponsoring organization providing the information? Preferred sources are from reputable institutions, such as universities, hospitals, or government health agencies.

Google Web Searches

Use command “site:” to limit you search to top-level domains like .gov, ,org and ,edu.  For example, type: latest NCCN guidelines for prostate active surveillance  site: .gov OR site: .org OR site: .edu

Be cautious with .com sites unless they are from recognized and credible entities. Medical databases such as PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar are good sources for cross-referencing scientific research.

Articles, Online Posts

Check articles, online posts, videos etc. for their sources, including scientific studies, medical journals, or clinical trials. Information from peer-reviewed journals is typically more reliable than content from non-peer-reviewed sources. Poor reviewed means that other people similarly qualified to the author have reviewed teh article adn provided comments.

Anecdotal Evidence

Anecdotal evidence is information that has been observed by the person reporting but not verified. Be skeptical of anecdotal evidence such as personal stories. It is not scientifically reliable. Focus on information supported by scientific evidence and clinical studies. The quality levels of evidence from highest to lowest for medical data are:

1. Systematic reviews: collect and evaluate all available data/evidence within the researchers’ criteria. An example is the “Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews”. Meta studies are a systematic review.
2. Randomized controlled trials: participants are randomly assigned to experimental and control arms. The double-blind trial is the gold-standard of medical research where neither the participants nor the researchers know the placebo or medication/treatment is given. This is to prevent bias and to ensure the validity and reliability of the study.
3. Cohort observational study: participants with common traits or exposure to the proposed medications or treatments are followed over a long period of time.
4. Case study or report: a detailed report of result after treatment of an individual. This is formalized and reviewed anecdotal evidence.

Medical Trial Reports

The phases of medical trial studies cited by published medical papers are:

1. Pre-clinical studies: laboratory experiments using cell cultures, animal or computer models. In vitro means tested In Vitro – literally ‘in glass’  means testing outside a living organism, in a test tube or petri dish, In Vivo – literally in life -means testing in a living organism, often mice.  Then studies move on to humans…
2. Phase I trials: assess safety, dosage and side effects of the proposed medications or treatment.
3. Phase II trials: expand P 1 to evaluate efficacy of the proposed medications or treatment – how well it works..
4. Phase III trials: confirm efficacy, safety, dosage and to evaluate side effects of the proposed medications or treatment in much larger samples. This is often where randomized blind and double blind design is used. Blind means the patient does not know what they are getting; double blind means neither the patient nor the clinician know what is being dosed.
5. Phase IV trials: monitor long term effectiveness and safety of the medication or treatment.

Statistical Terms

Some terms regarding statistical data cited in medical journals are explained as follows:

1. N =  the number of participants: be wary of studies with a very low N.
2. HR = hazard ratio:  HR=1 – there is no change in the proposed medication/treatment compared to control baseline. HR<1 – there is a reduction of risks with the proposed medication/treatment. HR>1 – there is an increase risk with the proposed medication/treatment.
3. CI = Confidence Interval: A trial shows that a particular drug has a 20% effect within a certain time frame with 95% CI. This shows that the study, if repeated many times, it will be 95% confident that the 20% reduction will be consistently observed.
4. P-value = Probability Value: This measures how strong the evidence is that the hypothesis, or effect being tested, is correct, rather than the result being random, or incorrect (null hypothesis). We seek a P-value that is <=0.05 meaning that there is a 95% or better likelihood the result is attributable to what is being tested..

Editor:  Advisory Board Member and The Active Surveillor, Howard Wolinsky reminded us of another presentation AnCan presented a few years back A Layperson’s Guide to Reading Medical Research – watch it!