Read the primary source rather than the write-up and the two do not agree, so here is what is actually in it.
The variables that decide how a cross-border order goes are declaration wording, the destination country's import rules for prescription medicines, and whether the shipment looks commercial. Personal-import allowances exist in some jurisdictions and not in others, and where they exist they are usually conditional on a prescription and a quantity limit. The failure mode is normally a seizure notice rather than anything worse, and a reshipment policy is the thing worth confirming before ordering rather than after.
Where I think it is weakest: the completion rate deserves as much attention as the headline, because a large effect among those who finished is a different claim from a large effect among those enrolled.
What I actually want to know is which of the variables in a cross-border order actually determine the outcome, and which are superstition. Tell me what I have not thought of.
Figures above are from the primary publication rather than the press summary. If a number here disagrees with one you have, post yours and we will work out which of us is reading a secondary source.
TinaHashiRN said:The variables that decide how a cross-border order goes are declaration wording, the destination country's import rules for prescription medicines,…
Agreed, and hsCRP is worth reading alongside them. The inflammatory-marker fall is often the most striking change on a panel and it is consistent with the cardiovascular outcome data.
Correct me if the detail matters more than I have assumed.
TinaHashiRN said:The variables that decide how a cross-border order goes are declaration wording, the destination country's import rules for prescription medicines,…
Filing a mild objection. Mild because I might be wrong; an objection because nobody has addressed the case that does not fit. Import rules are jurisdiction-specific and this board keeps giving US-shaped answers to non-US questions. What is a personal-import allowance in one country is a controlled-import offence in another.
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Shop Reference StandardsTaking the question as asked, rather than the general version of it. ApoB is the more informative number and it is cheap. LDL-C estimates cholesterol mass in atherogenic particles; ApoB counts the particles, and it is particle count that tracks risk — which is why the two can disagree and why the disagreement is the clinically interesting case. Triglycerides fall substantially with weight loss and improved insulin sensitivity, HDL moves modestly, and LDL-C often barely moves at all, which surprises people who expected everything to improve together.
TrialNerd_Beth said:Agreed, and hsCRP is worth reading alongside them.
Can confirm. Same sequence, different timescale.