I would strongly encourage you to read this absolutely fascinating article about a new study from Harvard that shines a light on some of the challenges with scientific studies, particularly as they relate to the medical world.
As mentioned several times in the article (and again below), this is not to say that I don’t believe in studies, but rather the point that some people tend to put ALL of their belief in them (ie pharmaceutical studies vs natural health supplements).
While I love science (my bachelor’s degree is in engineering), I just get concerned when I see people clamor around the results of a study as absolute fact…there are many factors involved!
Closing Thoughts from the Article
Now don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. Studies are not useless. In fact, they are the foundation of modern medicine and modern science. Without them, we might still be treating diseases by regulating bad humors and expelling evil spirits. BUT–and this is a very, very important “but” –
Clinical trials are not the be-all and end-all of scientific knowledge!
They often contain serious flaws and biases, not to mention being subject to the vagaries of human greed and duplicity.
In the end, individual clinical trials should be considered as divining rods that at best point us in the direction of important conclusions. Certainly, multiple studies that come to the same conclusion are a better indicator than individual studies — but even then, the result is not guaranteed.
As mentioned in the article, if the same bias is carried from study to study (confusing synthetic vitamin E with full complex, natural vitamin E, for example), study after study can end up with the same flawed conclusion, just reached multiple times.
But once we understand the limitations of the different types of studies and the way errors can creep into them, we can see that decades, centuries, and even millennia of anecdotal information about herbal and nutraceutical remedies can be equally effective in “possibly” pointing the way to important healing discoveries.
From Jon Barron
