So called “anecdotal” evidence means that someone reports that they did “X” and that their symptoms went away. Or that they felt better. Or, sometimes, that they got worse. In our new cyber world, where the entire globe is connected electronically, there can be any number of people who share anecdotal stories. At its best, anecdotal “evidence” — I prefer to call them “stories” — might lead someone to do something benign — like drinking carrot juice every day to improve their TED. (An actual anecdotal tidbit that I heard working this board.) At its worst, though, anecdotal stories can be hideously harmful. One, seriously ill young woman that I met at a Graves conference long ago, had tried to treat her hyperthyroidism by drinking her own urine — advice that had been given to her by some idiot or other. It didn’t work. She got much, much sicker before she stopped and went back to a doctor. Doctors sometimes fall prey to anecdotal evidence, too. Doctors in the US gave women estrogen hormone therapy post menopause for decades, believing their own, anecdotal reports that it provided protection from heart attacks. When finally studied, it was shown to have no such beneficial effect on the heart and it was shown that it increased the incidence of breast cancer in elderly women across the board. Treat any and all anecdotal evidence with skepticism, please.
We have PROVEN treatment options that work to give us back our health. Please recognize that if you try to substitute an unproven course of action for our proven treatment options, you are putting you health in danger.
