Evaluate and summarize 2 primary scientific papers regarding cholesterol or blood pressure.
The purpose of this part of the project is for you to utilize peer reviewed scientific journals to evaluate primary/original research papers. AND to be able to interpret the scientific results into terms that your future patients would understand (i.e., what is the take home message?)
 
For this part of the project, you will need to utilize the library database of scientific journal articles to:
a.    search for 2 primary research papers regarding one of the topics listed below,
b.    obtain a copy of the FULL paper (NOT just the abstract),
c.    read it, and
d.    summarize the research papers in a way that would make sense to the general public

You must use 2 different primary research papers (not review articles) as references.  Summarize your findings in 250-500 words (excluding references).  Cite all of your references using appropriate citation style such as APA, MLA, or AMA within the summary and your references at the end (see book references for examples).

IMPORTANT: Please use original words and be careful not to plagiarize. You must include your summary in this document AND post it on the ‘Cholesterol/BP project” forum on the discussion board for full credit. If you have questions about what peer reviewed primary research papers are, please ask.  The purpose is for you to find two different papers that did an experiment on the same topic.  And give me your conclusions based on these two papers.  What is your take home message?

Topics to choose from:
•    Relationship between body fat percentage and lipid concentrations
•    Relationship between plant stanols and cholesterol concentrations
•    Effect of fish oils on heart disease
•    Effect of high simple sugar intake and lipid profiles
•    Relationship between weight loss and blood pressure

Grading Guidelines:
•    Primary research paper appropriately chosen (i.e., primary research paper, published in scientific journals, NOT review articles, etc).  No credit if papers are not primary research.
•    2 pts: appropriate reference within summary and citations
•    1: posting on discussion board
•    4 pts: quality of summary.  This should be adequately summarized so that the general public could understand the implications.