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Perhaps this paper is the 'observation of a phenomenon' which may lead (or has lead) to the formulation of a hypothesis.

Thus, this paper is saying what the scientific method should test next.




That was my impression as well. The tone seemed to be "we turned over a couple rocks and we think we noticed a couple things. We want to share that hike in the Autism woods."

The number of subjects was small. They even added: "We note that due to the open-label nature of this initial trial, all of the assessments are subject to placebo effect..."


The problem is that this kind of studies should be discussed only inside medical centers where the next more reliable studies are designed. The discussion with general public degenerates because most people don't understand the difference between a preliminary study and a good clinical study. You will see in a few days a press article in a major newspaper with the title "Fecal transplant cure definitively autism forever, scientist say" and I will cry.


This has already happened, and quack doctors are already using this to peddle fecal transplant cures on local autism groups.




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