Grimes D A
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
Obstet Gynecol. 1995 Dec;86(6):1031-4. doi: 10.1016/0029-7844(95)00276-W.
Around 600 BC, Daniel of Judah conducted what is widely regarded as the earliest recorded clinical trial. His trial compared the health effects of a vegetarian diet with those of a royal Babylonian diet over a 10-day period. The strengths of his study include the use of a contemporaneous control group, use of an independent assessor of outcome, and striking brevity in the published report. Weaknesses include probable selection bias, ascertainment bias, and confounding by divine intervention. Although Daniel probably never achieved tenure, he did get "learning and skill in all letters and wisdom ... and understanding in all visions and dreams" (well before Freud). Despite the trial's dramatic findings, over 4 centuries elapsed before publication of Daniel's results. Daniel apparently perished, then published.
公元前600年左右，犹大的但以理进行了被广泛认为是最早有记录的临床试验。他的试验在10天的时间里比较了素食饮食与巴比伦皇家饮食对健康的影响。他的研究优点包括使用同期对照组、使用独立的结果评估者以及发表报告极为简洁。缺点包括可能存在的选择偏倚、确定偏倚以及因神的干预而产生的混杂因素。尽管但以理可能从未获得终身教职，但他确实获得了“所有文字和智慧方面的学识和技能……以及对所有异象和梦境的理解”（比弗洛伊德早得多）。尽管试验结果惊人，但在但以理的结果发表之前，已经过去了4个多世纪。但以理显然去世了，然后才发表。
