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Abstract
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"It ain't so much the things we don't know that get us in trouble. It's the things we know that ain't so."" (Artemus Ward)
I am often struck by how seemingly simple questions on fitness or health are hard to accurately answer with a scientific basis. Finding reliable sources of infor- mation and then interpreting the results accurately can be a challenge. Often we rely on news reports, advertisements, or "common knowledge" as the basis for our statements or actions. In this article, I will point out how to find solid sources of information as well as how the design of the study or the statistical analyses used may influence interpretation/application.
Too often we are hit with advertisements and statements that seem to promise the world. Recently, one of my students brought a supplement label to me to review. The content of the label seemed to be full of "good science." It even had a list of references of articles found in the literature. The product promised that it had a unique and special blend of ingredients that would promote muscle growth like no other product could. I took the time to look up the articles listed--most of the articles did not study athletes. Some were done on animals and most had no relationship to performance at all. In this particular case, although the claims were a bit of a stretch scientifically, the product didn't appear to contain any harmful ingredients and was reasonable in the vitamins/mineral included. As consumers become more interested in results, marketing groups realize the power of science. We all want to believe the claims, and thus we buy the products. Hinting at scien- tific support helps sell products.
Often we see that phrase "statistics show. . . " as a way to convince us to take a particular action or to buy a product. Even our chewing gum and toothpaste are marketed by the claims of "4 out of 5 dentists recommend." So, how do we find good information? There are many resources available through the scientific lit- erature. In the past, accessing these documents was a challenge for the public. Most sources were housed in university or medical libraries. Now with the inter- net, many more options are available that do not require a link to a college or university. One example of an important scientific resource is PubMed (http:// www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed). This is an excellent website that allows anyone with an internet connection to access original research articles.
Language: en |