How answers are produced, how long they last, and what happens when one of them is wrong.
When you ask a question, it is first rewritten into the clinical and scientific terms a researcher would search with. That search is then restricted to an approved list of sources: national and international guidelines, systematic reviews, randomised controlled trials, and established expert organisations. Nothing outside that list can be searched or cited.
Studies published before 1998 and studies not carried out in humans are excluded. Higher-impact high-impact medical journals are preferred where several sources cover the same question. The full tiering is set out in how we grade evidence.
Answers are generated automatically. Every claim is tied to a linked source, and the evidence grade is shown as prominently as the answer itself, so you are never asked to take a summary on trust. Some answers are additionally checked by a physician, as described below.
Answers are generated automatically. Some are then read by a physician against the sources they cite, and those carry a reviewed badge naming the reviewer and the date.
Reviewing is done by spot-check, working through the questions people ask most often. An answer without a badge has not been individually checked. That does not mean it is wrong, only that no person has read that particular wording yet.
The badge means a physician confirmed the answer fairly reflects the sources listed beneath it. It is not personal medical advice, and it does not make the answer right for you.
If an answer changes for any reason, the badge is removed automatically. A badge never carries over onto wording a person has not actually read.
Answers are stored so that a repeated question returns instantly rather than being researched from scratch each time. Storage lasts 30 days for an ordinary answer and 90 days for one a physician has reviewed. After that the question is researched again against the current sources.
Every answer shows the date it was produced. If a guideline changed last week and an answer is older than that, it may not reflect the change yet. That is the honest trade-off of showing you a stored answer, and it is why every source links to the live original.
Where we learn that a major guideline has been revised, affected answers are deleted straight away rather than waiting for storage to expire.
If an answer is wrong, out of date, misleading, or cites something that does not say what we claim it says, please report it. Every answer carries a reporting link, or email hello@askfoundedhealth.com directly. Please include the question you asked and what you think is wrong.
Everyone who reports a problem gets a reply. We do not publish a turnaround time, because Founded Health is run by one person alongside clinical work and a promise we could not always keep would be worth less than none. Reports are read and answered, and safety-relevant ones are looked at first.
What happens next: the report is checked against the cited sources. If the answer is wrong, the stored copy is deleted immediately so the question is researched fresh the next time it is asked. If the fault is in how that kind of question is handled, the underlying rules are changed. Where an error mattered for safety, a note is published below.
No source appears in an answer because of any commercial relationship. Founded Health takes no advertising, sponsorship or affiliate revenue, and the approved source list is chosen on evidence quality alone. See about for how the site is funded.
Material corrections will be recorded here with the date and what changed. There are no entries yet.
Educational information only. Not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and no doctor-patient relationship is created by using this. Founded Health has not examined you and does not know their history, so its answers may not apply to you. Never delay or disregard advice from a qualified health professional because of something you read here. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.