Reference

Glossary

Research terms, translated into plain English.

Abstract

A short summary at the top of a research paper.

Amino acid

A building block of proteins and peptides. There are 20 standard ones.

Animal study

Research done in animals, often mice or rats. Results often don't carry over to humans.

Bias

Anything that systematically skews a study's results away from the truth.

Case report

A description of one patient or a few patients. Useful for ideas, weak as evidence.

Clinical trial

A study that tests a treatment in people.

Cohort study

An observational study that follows groups of people over time. It can show links but not cause and effect.

Confidence interval (CI)

The range the true effect probably falls in. Narrow is more precise.

Control group

Participants who don't get the treatment, used for comparison.

Double-blind

Neither participants nor researchers know who got the real treatment.

FDA

U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which approves medicines in the U.S.

GLP-1

A natural gut hormone (glucagon-like peptide-1) involved in appetite and blood sugar. Semaglutide mimics it.

GLP-1 receptor agonist

A drug that activates the GLP-1 receptor, such as semaglutide.

Hazard ratio (HR)

Compares how often an event happens in two groups. Below 1 means less often in the treatment group.

In vitro

Done in cells or tissue in a lab, not in a living body.

Meta-analysis

A study that statistically combines the results of many earlier studies.

Observational study

Researchers watch what happens without assigning treatments.

Peptide

A short chain of amino acids.

Pilot study

A small, early study to test whether a bigger one is feasible.

Placebo

An inactive dummy treatment used for comparison.

PMID

PubMed ID, a unique number for each paper on PubMed.

PubMed

A free database of medical research run by the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Randomized controlled trial (RCT)

Participants are randomly assigned to a treatment or a control. The gold standard for testing treatments.

Research chemical

A compound sold for lab research, not approved for human use.

Retrospective study

Looks back at existing records rather than following people forward.

Systematic review

A structured review of all studies on a question, following a set method.

WADA

World Anti-Doping Agency, which maintains the list of substances banned in sport.

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