Help Desk → Research about SCI/D → Learn about Participation in SCI Research → How do I learn if a therapy is valid and safe
7.2. How do I learn if a therapy is valid and safe
For any therapy or treatment you are considering, check to see if it is safe:
- Look for any peer reviewed published papers on the treatment. Peer review is important. This means that the scientist's/physician's work has been reviewed by peers (one with equal or some knowledge) in the field and has been approved for publishing. These include 'reviewed papers' from around the world.
- There should be background studies, pilot studies or pre-clinical studies published. The best compilation of medical studies is maintained at The National Institutes of Health, Library of Medicine. The link to the free library access is: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed
- 'Reviewed' papers will be available even if the treatment may be 'brand new' or 'novel'
'Scam' or non-validated therapies should raise a Red Flag of caution.
- If you are considering such a therapy or treatment, you should request copies of published previous work AND references of the publishing (ie. Journal, date, publication) which is typically called 'pre-clinical' or pilot studies.
Many of the 'scam' treatments have not been published or reviewed
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