Evidence hierarchy used on LiftLab
- Regulatory labeling and high-quality systematic reviews
- Randomized controlled human trials
- Prospective/observational human studies
- Case reports and pharmacovigilance
- Animal studies
- Cell/mechanistic studies
- Anecdote, marketing and forum claims
Why this matters
A compound can have an interesting mechanism and still fail to produce a meaningful clinical outcome. Likewise, a short study can detect a biomarker or lean-mass change without proving long-term safety or real-world functional benefit.
Conflict-of-interest and context
Readers should check who funded a study, who manufactured the drug, the population studied, trial duration, comparator, dropout rate, outcome definitions, and whether the endpoint was prespecified.
What “no evidence” means
Absence of good evidence is not evidence that a compound definitely does nothing. It means confidence should be lower and claims should be more restrained.