How To Read a Peptide Study Without Getting Fooled
Everyone cites “studies.” Almost nobody reads them. Here’s how to tell a strong result from a headline. Education, not medical advice.
1. Species and sample size first
Before anything else: humans or animals? How many? A dramatic finding in 8 mice is a hypothesis, not a recommendation. Human, randomized, and adequately powered is the bar.
2. Endpoints and effect size
What did they actually measure, and how big was the effect? A statistically significant change in a surrogate marker can be clinically meaningless. Look for outcomes that matter, sized to matter.
- Surrogate marker ≠ real-world outcome.
- “Significant” means unlikely-by-chance, not “large.”
- Check the confidence interval, not just the p-value.
3. Who funded it, and what’s missing
Funding shapes framing. And the most important data is often what’s not reported: dropouts, adverse events, negative secondary outcomes. The honest read includes the inconvenient parts.
We read the papers, weekly.
Labbrief weighs the evidence honestly, caveats and all, by someone who read the whole study. Free.
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