3 replies to this topic

[Jofo]

This may have been brought up before, but I always thought it would be great there was a Laboratory/Experiments forum set aside for the sole purpose of carrying out group experiments related to acne. I got this idea from another (non-acne) forum I used to visit.

In the past these boards have seen countless threads touting a newfangled cure for acne, prompting members to jump on the bandwagon and carry out informal mini-studies. The problem with those threads was that, given the informal nature, the results were usually inconclusive. Sometimes the author would provide regular updates for a couple of weeks and then suddenly go missing in action, some posters would say "I'm in!" and then never reply to the thread to give a progress update, and some members would quit the new treatment after just a few days due to breakouts.

I realize that this website has a Reviews section, but the reviews typically suffer from the problem of insufficient information. We can't always know for sure that the treatments actually worked to the extent claimed by the reviewers. We don't know how long they used the treatment, what other acne products they were using at the time, whether the results were merely temporary, etc.

With a Laboratory forum, the intention would be to have threads that specifically lay out rules and methodologies for testing out a new treatment. Start date, end date, dosage, daily time of use, and brand of product (if relevant) would all be outlined in the first post. In addition, each contributor to the experiment would state important factors like age, race, skin type, severity of acne, other treatments currently being used, and so on. Users could formally commit to adding nothing else to their regimens for the duration of the experiment.

The experiment originator could stipulate that contributors must update with a progress report every X number of days or weeks. I believe members would be far less likely to fail to give progress updates if they knew they were being held accountable.

The Acne.org community seem like a pretty motivated bunch that is willing to try out new things in the name of acne research. I think there are many people here who would be willing to sign up for such experiments.

Imagine the usefulness of being able to use local experiments for future reference. We can point back to an experiment and say, "Well in the Laboratory forum, 20 people tried that treatment for a whole month and they all experienced reduced acne." Instead of waiting around for scientists to conduct studies on acne, we can create our own research. Sure it won't be as "official" as an actual scientific study, but I'm sure the knowledge we gain would nevertheless be invaluable.

Obviously any seriously dangerous experiments would be prohibited. I'm thinking more along the line of things like fish oil, Vitamin B5 megadoses, gluten-free diets, peppermint oil, no-washing regimens, exercise, and so on.

This forum has over 100,000 members. It seems like a waste not to utilize such an enormous resource for the good of acne research.

[joeyci91]

sounds like a plan

Edited by joeyci91, 11 February 2011 - 10:00 AM.

[Goosey.]

fish oil, Vitamin B5 megadoses, gluten-free diets, peppermint oil, no-washing regimens, exercise

I think there are logs & posts of those, just spread out across all the forums

[Wynne]

I don't see acne.org ever sponsoring such forums as there's absolutely no way to ensure scientific, rigorous adherence to the study terms without actually being able to individually interview and oversee each member. That's way more huge than the scope of this website, which is distinctly peer-sharing only.

Feel free to start up such experiments (completely on your own, without official acne.org involvement), in the log sections of your choice OR in Acne Research.