The hottest Clinical Research Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Health & Wellness Topics

How to use NHS data for scientific research – without creating a privacy nightmare

Odds and Ends of History • 871 implied HN points • 24 Feb 26
🏥 Health Politics Clinical Research
  1. NHS health records are a huge, nation-wide dataset that can drive life-saving discoveries and help improve how care is delivered, so using them responsibly is a public good.
  2. Trusted Research Environments (like OpenSafely) let researchers run code on NHS data without individual records leaving secure servers. They protect privacy by design using auditing, open-source code, dummy data for testing, and only returning aggregated results.
  3. The OpenSafely model shows strong results but needs stable, scaled funding and wider adoption so TREs can be expanded across health research and other government data; funders should support open, competitive calls for this infrastructure.

Guardians of the Brain

Ground Truths • 9404 implied HN points • 08 Dec 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Clinical Research
  1. The brain has a vital connection with the immune system, challenging the old belief that the brain is cut off from it. New studies show that brain immune cells can help prevent and treat diseases.
  2. Recent research has discovered ways to program T cells to respond to brain issues, which may aid in treating brain tumors and autoimmune diseases. This could lead to better therapies by specifically targeting brain conditions.
  3. There is a newly understood communication path between the body and brain that controls inflammation and immune responses. Understanding this connection can improve treatments for autoimmune diseases and conditions like Long Covid.

Near-Instantly Aborting the Worst Pain Imaginable with Psychedelics

psychotechnology • 23 implied HN points • 07 Feb 26
🏥 Health & Wellness Clinical Research
  1. Cluster headaches are an extreme, recurring form of pain that can be utterly incapacitating and even drive people to desperate measures.
  2. Psychedelics—especially inhaled DMT at low doses—can abort attacks almost instantly, and psilocybin/LSD can reduce or prevent cycles, often outperforming standard acute treatments.
  3. Legal barriers and crude healthcare metrics leave many patients without access or funding, so advocacy and organized efforts are pushing for research, policy change, and expanded compassionate access.

Yale’s “Integrity Project” Is Spreading Misinformation About The Cass Review And Youth Gender Medicine: Part 3

Singal-Minded • 1453 implied HN points • 31 Dec 24
🏥 Health Politics Clinical Research
  1. Yale's Integrity Project has been criticized for spreading misinformation about youth gender medicine and the Cass Review. Many argue that their claims are not based on solid evidence.
  2. Critics of the Integrity Project highlight that their arguments often lack proper context or are misleading. They suggest that the project's authors are prioritizing a legal narrative over accurate scientific discourse.
  3. The debate around gender medicine for youth is complicated and filled with differing opinions. It's important to critically evaluate sources and claims to understand the real effects of treatments like puberty blockers.

COVID Vax worsens long COVID--only 2% improved, 33% worse off

Who is Robert Malone • 16 implied HN points • 25 Jan 26
🏥 Health & Wellness Clinical Research
  1. About 29% of people with long COVID reported their symptoms worsened after getting a COVID vaccine at least 90 days after infection, while only about 2% said they clearly improved.
  2. Worsening was linked to receiving the Moderna (mRNA-1273) vaccine and having a persistent cough at the time of vaccination, with no strong ties to age or sex.
  3. The results come from self-reported preprint data with modest effect sizes, so they are preliminary and highlight the need for more research and more individualized vaccination guidance for people with long COVID.
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If You Visit a Sex Worker, Consider Using Carrageenan Lube

Viruses Must Die • 26 implied HN points • 23 Dec 25
🏥 Health & Wellness Clinical Research
  1. A lubricant made with carrageenan can reduce HPV infectivity, and a recent FDA‑supervised randomized trial found it safe and at least somewhat effective.
  2. Carrageenan is commonly used and generally regarded as safe in foods and cosmetics, but a product is treated as a drug only if it makes medical claims on its label.
  3. If you have sex outside a long-term relationship, it’s sensible to combine HPV vaccination, regular testing, and PrEP with using carrageenan lube as an extra layer of protection.

My email asking Mark Del Monte, CEO of AAP, for a credible scientific study justifying the CDC childhood vaccine schedule

Steve Kirsch's newsletter • 7 implied HN points • 17 Jan 26
🏥 Health Politics Clinical Research
  1. No peer-reviewed study has been identified that evaluates the full childhood vaccine schedule with individual-level data and shows a statistically significant net benefit for overall health or all-cause mortality.
  2. Requests for such evidence from major pediatric organizations and advisory committees may go unanswered, and there is skepticism they could produce a study meeting the stated criteria.
  3. Some non-vaccinating practices report lower rates of chronic childhood conditions, and there are claims that researchers who study vaccinated versus unvaccinated groups have been blocked from publishing, raising concerns about suppression of relevant research.

Reader Question – What’s the Deal with Lark Health?

Weight and Healthcare • 359 implied HN points • 02 Nov 22
🏥 Health & Wellness Clinical Research
  1. Lark Health is primarily a weight loss program marketed as a diabetes prevention and overall health coaching service, but its actual effectiveness in sustainable weight loss is questionable.
  2. Results from a study on Lark Health showed that only a small percentage of participants completed the program and the average weight loss achieved was minimal, raising concerns about the program's real impact.
  3. Despite claims of 'clinically proven results,' Lark Health's focus on weight loss rather than holistic health raises ethical questions, especially as it is backed by the CDC and marketed through insurance companies and employers.

No Moonshots With Paper Planes

NEUROTECH FUTURES • 19 implied HN points • 05 Feb 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Clinical Research
  1. Alzheimer's clinical trials still use outdated paper-based tools like the CDR scale, hindering progress in drug development
  2. Industry experts push for novel digital tools to improve clinical trials, aiming for more efficient, reliable, and cost-effective drug development
  3. The shift towards neurotech and digital tools in Alzheimer's research shows promise for advancing diagnostics and treatments, challenging the status quo of reliance on paper-based measures

Human Cells vs. Humans: The $100 Billion Drug Translation Paradox

Nano Thoughts • 0 implied HN points • 29 Jul 25
🏥 Health & Wellness Clinical Research
  1. Current methods for drug testing often fail because they focus too much on studying individual cells instead of how the whole human body works. This leads to many drugs that seem effective in labs but fail in real patients.
  2. We need to explore new methods, like using AI to look at patient data, instead of just improving cell models. This could help us find which treatments work for different kinds of patients.
  3. Successful drug development should combine both cell models to create new drugs and patient-level insights to figure out who will benefit most from them. It's time to rethink how we approach medicine.