This week on Calling in Sick, I'm sitting down with Max Swiergol, osteopathic medical student, research enthusiast, and one of the most accessible voices translating cutting-edge science for the chronic illness community online. This episode is one of the most practically useful we have ever done.

We're diving into: 📊 How to actually evaluate a medical study — impact factor, the evidence pyramid, and why a study of 10 people is not the same as a study of 10,000 🚩 Selection bias and predatory journals — how content creator physicians and supplement brands cherry-pick small studies while ignoring 99% of conflicting research 💊 The FDA drug approval process — the full timeline from pre-clinical to Phase 3, why only 1 in 20,000 drugs ever makes it to approval, and what that means for chronic illness patients watching clinical trials 🧬 What treatments are actually coming — CAR-T therapy for autoimmune disease, gene editing, ASOs, and the new FDA guidance that could fast-track treatments for ultra-rare conditions

If you have ever read a study online and not known what to do with it, or seen a supplement brand quote research and felt something was off, this episode is going to give you all the tools you need.

AND! Come back on Wednesday to hear our chat about… PEPTIDES!

xx, Alex

💬 Comment: Have you ever brought a research paper to a doctor's appointment? What happened?

TIMESTAMPS:

Intro:

00:00:00 Welcome back to Calling in Sick!

00:00:11 Meet Max Swiergol

How to Read & Understand Medical Research as a Patient:

00:05:44 How to find good research

00:07:30 What medical journals carry credibility (and which don’t!)

00:09:34 Identifying selection bias online

00:13:28 The hierarchy of medical evidence (The Evidence Pyramid)

00:18:30 Conflicts of interest and the peer-review process

Personalized Medicine & Treatments & the Clinical Trial Process:

00:25:36 The transition to personalized care for treatment

00:31:02 How CAR-T cell therapy is revolutionizing autoimmune treatment

00:39:40 FDA Approval Process(Pre-clinical testing, Phase 1-3)

00:45:57 Why it takes so long to approve medications

Conclusion:

00:54:33 One Brain Cell Show (YouTube travel vlogs)

00:56:52 Where to find Max Dose online

00:58:28 Thank you for listening!

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Connect with our guest, Max Swiergol!

• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/themaxdose/

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Produced by: Alexandra Wildeson — https://www.instagram.com/alexandrawildeson/

One Brain Cell YT Shows:

The everlasting fish ponds: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/longyou-caves

Relevant Episode Links:

• New PPD Treatments - https://reunionneuro.com/2026/01/20/reunion-neuroscience-presents-full-data-from-reconnect-phase-2-clinical-trial-of-re104-for-the-treatment-of-postpartum-depression-ppd-at-acnp-annual-meeting/

• ENDO-205 - https://seed.nih.gov/portfolio/nih-portfolio-company-showcase/endocyclic-therapeutics

#MedicalResearch #ChronicIllness #CARTTherapy #GeneEditing #FDAApproval #ChronicIllnessTreatment #PatientAdvocacy #ResearchLiteracy #AutoimmuneDisease #SpoonieLife #InvisibleIllness #ClinicalTrials #PersonalizedMedicine #ChronicIllnessAwareness #MedicalBias #SupplementIndustry #ChronicPain #HealthResearch #CallingInSickPodcast #AlexWildeson

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