Hello All,

I have not said a lot since joining this site as I tend to speak when something needs to be said only. I have edited much of this to facilitate easier understanding but one just cannot avoid some jargon.

I chose to use only one example of corruption of the scientific method - trust me, there are many others.

IN NO WAY DO I CLAIM RESEARCHERS ARE ALL CROOKED. IT IS A POLITICAL THING. (Please excuse the shouting).

Regarding the use of ABSTRACTS
Just a few notes to hopefully help some of you navigate the mire of misdirected scientific research and how the public can be mislead into making a judgement call when they rely on accepting the recommendations of doctors if they also choose to use these due to time constraints – ABSTRACTS THAT IS.
I have seen it noted that some people have used hundreds of ABSRACTS to form their ideas. This is at the very least worrisome.
This document is written from the perspective of a trained scientist (me) so I am writing within my own experience and its purpose is to clarify.

The true purpose of an abstract is to present an accurate precis of the work undertaken that is a quick study to tweak the interest of readers – whetting their appetite if you will. Unfortunately, this process has become corrupted with carefully chosen wording to make it (the Abstract) say what the orchestrators of the study wanted…..a slight of word if you will and with time short – it is taken as a full register of the theme of the work.

It is rare for a study to be designed with realistic analysis in mind - they try to fit the analysis in later. This too is questionable.

The only way to resolve this is to read the WHOLE ARTICLE which requires an understanding of statistics (not simply P<0.1 statements). These are pretty much meaningless by themselves. It also requires knowledge of the scientific method let alone the mechanisms physiology and anatomy and in our case biochemistry being studied.

To use an example that does not require deep understanding, the way in which Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)has leapt to prominence as being considered to be supported by Level I evidence (the highest level) raises issues when a lot of posted research is read IN DETAIL. The truth is (CBT) is done in groups because it is cheap (well documented by the British Health System) and the results for pain studies are largely based on Lower Back Pain studies – it is very difficult to find legitimate work relating to CRPS / RSD. What does happen is the work is interpolated or extrapolated to include ALL pain.

Additionally, the statistics are highly questionable. It is NOT ACCEPTABLE practice to allow crossover from a control group to a study group and many of the studies of CBT do just this. Further, they also allow the size of the study groups to be small – another statistical faux pas. They also seem content in many studies just to run with a few %’s and call them valid statistics….oops!
When meta-analyses are done to try to validate much of this work it is discounted in quite large quantities. Thus, only a small amount of the work out there can be regarded as legitimate for CRPS / RSD.

Now, where does that leave US?
Those of us who read only the ABSTRACT are left in the lurch with misinformation and problemlatic dogma in many cases. The remainder of the article often needs to be purchased from reputable sources such as Elsevier. This is understandable as these articles are in depth medical studies from highly reputable institutions.
As a scientist and yes I do have severe CRPS, it worries me that some people address numerous topics with such authority based on ABSTRACTS when they are using, at best, aged, misdirected and fragmented opinion. This opinion is frequently presented in forums whereby the uninitiated and perhaps not so-well informed trust those words written by those promulgating knowledge that is at best a sketchy twisting of the scientific method.
CHOOSE CAREFULLY AND WISELY my friends.....please!
I worry for our future.

I wish you all the very best success in finding something and someone to help ease your pain.

Auberon