Science, Schmience – Tell Me What It Means!

Have you ever read a marketing brief and been confused by the buzz words? Or tried to delve into a scientific publication only to find you’re lost in the terminology? If so, then you are in the right place. We put together a simple glossary of terms that we think will help. You’ll no longer term clinical study results as “science schmience” but rather you’ll stand a little taller, firmly secure your glasses in place and confidently voice our completely astounding science without missing a beat. Without further adieu, here you go.

• Randomized – Study participants are randomly assigned to the different test groups in a study without bias.
• Double-Blind – neither the researcher/study administrator nor the study participant knows if the product being used contains active ingredients or not.
• Single–Blind – The study participant does not know if the product being used contains active ingredients or not.
• Placebo – a product that is undistinguishable from the active product, but contains no active ingredients.
• Placebo–Controlled – both a placebo and an active product are used for the study.
• Epidemiologic – is the study of factors affecting the health and illness of populations.
• In-vivo – study was conducted within a living organism.
• In-vitro – study was conducted outside of a living organism. i.e. in a test tube
• Statistically Significant – This one can be hard to explain. In statistics, a result is called statistically significant if it is unlikely to have occurred by chance. The use of the word significance in statistics is different from the standard one, which suggests that something is important or meaningful. Thus, in my terms, statistically significant results mean that 95% of the time that you take X daily you will get certain results. It does not mean that taking X daily gives you the best results, but the results you get will happen 95% of the time.
• FTC – stands for the Federal Trade Commission and is a large US government regulating body. In the dietary supplement world, they are responsible for ensuring that claims, labels and advertising are accurate and not misleading.
• FDA – The US Food and Drug Administration is a large US government regulating body. In the dietary supplement world, they ensure that products are safe and cause no harm. The FDA does not approve or disapprove of dietary supplements.
• Abstract – Is a short description of the study conducted and can be a quick reference for the study as it contains a conclusion describing the results of the study.

Heidi is XanGo's Research and Development Senior Manager. With ten years of experience in the nutritional industry and a degree in Nutrition she brings greater scientific understanding to all products that XanGo explores and launches. Heidi coordinates internal and external research studies and enjoys being a nutritional product expert.

One Response to “Science, Schmience – Tell Me What It Means!”

1. Brenda Cook says:

   August 20, 2010 at 2:04 am

   I just found this blog tonight…great info.