You've taken so much time to research what's behind a health headline for two reasons:
- You won't take up your doctor's time discussing something that may not apply to you.
- You and your doctor can have an intelligent conversation about the study results to determine whether your diagnosis or treatment protocols should be adjusted.
All the due diligence in the world will not replace a conversation about studies with your physician. Once you have established that the study was credible and objective, the participants are reflective of you, and the research findings could positively affect your diagnosis or treatment, then plan to discuss the findings with your doctor. Together you can decide whether a change in your diagnosis or treatment protocols should result from the information.
Don't try to act on those study results without that conversation. Starting or stopping any drug, for example, can wreak havoc if certain protocols relating to amounts or frequencies aren’t followed. You could be doing yourself great harm by making those decisions yourself.
One last word of advice. You've heard the maxim, “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.” There is plenty of junk science out there just looking for desperate patients to believe its outcomes. Its perpetrators are the snake-oil salespeople of our day. Be wary about whether those results can really be helpful to you.
On the other hand, the good science, the studies that yield good and useful findings for improving our health, will produce the important evidence we need for effective treatments of the future.
Learning to understand those studies, then discussing the relevant ones with your doctor, will help you find your best medical outcomes.
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