Glossary

The terms behind the fact check

This glossary does not explain active substances – that is what the topic pages are for. Here you will find the terms we use to read studies: what a primary endpoint is, why a marker is not an outcome, and what “for research purposes only” means legally. Each entry gives examples from the fact checks.

Methodology

How studies are built — and how to tell whether a number holds up.

Primary endpointThe primary endpoint is the one question that a study registers in advance as its main question.
Surrogate markerA surrogate marker is a measured value that stands in for what you are actually interested in — a lab value instead of the course of a disease.
Relative and absolute effectThe same study yields two numbers: the relative change sounds big, the absolute one says what actually happened.

Regulation

Approval, law and distribution channels.

Gray marketGray market means: the substance is sold, but neither as a medicinal product nor as a food — usually declared as “for research purposes only”.

Biology

Measured values and mechanisms that come up again and again in the fact checks.

Visceral fatVisceral fat lies deep in the abdominal cavity between the organs — unlike subcutaneous fat, which you can pinch.

Study database

All studies and official sources on which the fact checks are based – searchable and filterable by study type.

Study databaseAround 2,500 studies with original title, year, study type and the pages on which we use them.

The glossary grows with the episodes. Is a term from the podcast missing? Write to us.