From the other side of the consultation, briefly. Order of operations matters more than any single choice here: establish a baseline, change one thing, wait long enough for it to express itself, then measure again under the same conditions.

One thing that is still open after wendy_avl’s answer:

What would you measure differently if you were starting again?

CarlaRPh_TPA said:

Order of operations matters more than any single choice here: establish a baseline, change one thing, wait long enough for it to express itself, then…

I read this differently from CarlaRPh_TPA, on substance rather than tone. This treats a plausible mechanism as a demonstrated one. Plausible is where you start looking, not where you stop.

CarlaRPh_TPA said:

Order of operations matters more than any single choice here: establish a baseline, change one thing, wait long enough for it to express itself, then…

Fair, and it stops being fair at the extremes. The middle of the range is well understood; the ends are where the honest answer is that nobody knows.

Correct me if the detail matters more than I have assumed.

Moderator note: reminder that nothing in this thread is medical advice, and that clinical claims need a source. Carry on.