The "bangs head" thread reminded me of something I thought about a couple of years ago, when I first read Dr. H's book. She had mentioned that we, the pet owners, are unknowingly participating in massive, unofficial "clinical trials" that had disastrous results. And she's right. I remember thinking, wouldn't it be great if vet offices had databases with the pet's information and diet, and if that could be compiled in one major database (even if 1 clinic/practice per state participated, that would be a lot of information), so that raw data could be pulled to see how health issues were connected (or not) to diet.
I mentioned it to Lisa at IBD Kitties and she told me that information is covered by HIPAA (Health Information Portability and Accountability Act) because of the owners, so there went that idea. But now and then, I think it would be nice to do an "informal" database with that information, and collect that info over years. If I had the time, I'd love to do that. Maybe someday . . .
Of course, all of that information would be considered "anecdotal"
since it's not an "official" clinical trial. But if you have enough data, over a long enough period of time, SOMEONE would have to take notice.