Brigid Titgemeier argues that clinical observation counts as evidence, not just published studies. She cites an OB-GYN who noticed scarring in IUD patients but was dismissed by peers, and shares how a gluten-free diet cut her narcolepsy symptoms in half, despite no formal research backing it for non-celiac cases.
Here's a hot take that has been on my mind for a while that I want to share, especially after having a dinner last night with an incredible group of female physicians, and that is the toxicity of the internet with so many health experts trying to call out other health experts. Just recently, my friend Natalie Crawford, who's an OB-GYN and REI specialist, shared that she's seeing increased scarring clinically in patients that she sees that are— that have been on progestin IUDs, and a flood of OB-GYNs posted about how she doesn't know what she's talking about, how there's no research behind this. And she wasn't claiming that there's an abundance of research. She was claiming that this is what she's seeing clinically. And when it comes to evidence-based medicine, evidence-based medicine not only includes publication of research but also clinical observation. And clinical observation typically has to precede actual clinical trials. So absence of proof does not equal proof of absence. This is a core belief that I've always had as a dietitian. I was told going back to college that there's no research behind anyone being gluten-free unless you have celiac disease. And I was so embarrassed for other people to find out that I was gluten-free to help to manage my narcolepsy and the 30 seizures that I would have per day called cataplexies, that being gluten-free had drastically improved. If I had listened to the doctor at the time who said that nutrition had nothing to do with that and there was no reason to be gluten-free, I would still be living in my parents' basement because I would still be having cataplexies on a regular basis and unable to function in my day-to-day life. Physicians and other experts think that they can just tear people down on one topic without providing enough nuance, which requires more than a 2 to 3 minute post is absolutely insane to me, and I really feel that it is so unbelievably toxic. So if you are confused by all the health advice that you see on the internet, my advice to you would be to really be careful about the advice that you're taking from different accounts, even if they are an MD or an RD or a PhD. If they're providing videos where they're tearing other people down because they disagree with their opinion without being able to have a more nuanced conversation, it's typically a sign that you are consuming inflammatory content that probably is not going to improve your overall quality of life. Let me know in the comments if you're sick of seeing this too.
She Used to Crash Every Afternoon — Here's What Fixed It | The Wardrobe Consultant
