HairMax LaserComb(R) Laser Phototherapy Device in the Treatment of Male Androgenetic Alopecia: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Sham Device-Controlled, Multicentre Trial
The company that makes the laser comb is using the results of their study as proof that the laser comb does work and that you should buy it. Just the name of the study is confusing. The intent of this article is to parse out the language and tell you what this study really means.
Phototherapy is a method of stimulating cell growth with energy from light waves. Lasers are merely a part of the light spectrum and can be used in phototherapy.
Male pattern baldness is the single most common occurrence of baldness in men. This condition is known as Androgenetic Alopecia.
Controlling for external factors is a huge part of whether a clinical trial can be trusted or not. For instance, if you put people on a strict calorie diet, exercise a lot, and take a diet pill. If the participants lost weight, there is no way you could no exactly what was responsible for the weight loss. There for, you would have a group that only dieted, only exercised, or took diet pills and also all possible combinations of the three. Then you compare the weight loss for all control groups to see which factor seems to be responsible for the weight loss. Other factors that may be controlled in a clinical trial are age, medical history etc. It is important to control any factor that may be at all relevant to the study.
So what does it mean for a clinical study to be randomized? Well it is when participants do know which control group they are in. Random trials are basically the standard in clinical trials.
Double-blind is kind of a funny phrase for a study. It has nothing to do with vision! It means that no one (researchers or participants) knows which people are receiving actual treatment and which are receiving a placebo treatment. This will ensure an unbiased collection of data.
In the case of this study, the control group was given the placebo of a sham device. Basically, the device looks like the real thing but it does function like the real thing. If everyone using the fake comb shows no results and everyone using the real comb do show results then this helps prove the validity of the claims. The last way to help prove validity is by conducting the same study at different facilities with different people (multicenter).
As you can see the people who conducted this study went to great lengths to have an accurate study done. Since the results show that the device works, then it probably works as described. Not all studies are eligible to be published. You must prove to the journal that you did everything you could to objectively research something. Since this study was published, it adds to the validity of the claims.
The company that makes the laser comb is using the results of their study as proof that the laser comb does work and that you should buy it. Just the name of the study is confusing. The intent of this article is to parse out the language and tell you what this study really means.
Phototherapy is a method of stimulating cell growth with energy from light waves. Lasers are merely a part of the light spectrum and can be used in phototherapy.
Male pattern baldness is the single most common occurrence of baldness in men. This condition is known as Androgenetic Alopecia.
Controlling for external factors is a huge part of whether a clinical trial can be trusted or not. For instance, if you put people on a strict calorie diet, exercise a lot, and take a diet pill. If the participants lost weight, there is no way you could no exactly what was responsible for the weight loss. There for, you would have a group that only dieted, only exercised, or took diet pills and also all possible combinations of the three. Then you compare the weight loss for all control groups to see which factor seems to be responsible for the weight loss. Other factors that may be controlled in a clinical trial are age, medical history etc. It is important to control any factor that may be at all relevant to the study.
So what does it mean for a clinical study to be randomized? Well it is when participants do know which control group they are in. Random trials are basically the standard in clinical trials.
Double-blind is kind of a funny phrase for a study. It has nothing to do with vision! It means that no one (researchers or participants) knows which people are receiving actual treatment and which are receiving a placebo treatment. This will ensure an unbiased collection of data.
In the case of this study, the control group was given the placebo of a sham device. Basically, the device looks like the real thing but it does function like the real thing. If everyone using the fake comb shows no results and everyone using the real comb do show results then this helps prove the validity of the claims. The last way to help prove validity is by conducting the same study at different facilities with different people (multicenter).
As you can see the people who conducted this study went to great lengths to have an accurate study done. Since the results show that the device works, then it probably works as described. Not all studies are eligible to be published. You must prove to the journal that you did everything you could to objectively research something. Since this study was published, it adds to the validity of the claims.
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