Before a new drug, medical device, or vaccine is available to patients through their doctor or at a pharmacy, it must undergo clinical trials. These studies vary in size and length, but they all follow rules set by agencies to help manage risks for participants.

People of all ages and backgrounds must participate in clinical trials. This helps ensure that the tested medical products are effective for those who use them.

What is a Clinical Trial?

Clinical trials are research studies that test a potential new treatment for a disease or condition. All clinical trials follow strict guidelines, including who can participate and what information is shared. The Foundation and other researchers often work together to design a trial protocol. Sponsors (often the pharmaceutical companies developing the drug) decide which sites will host the trial.

The research team will usually assign participants to two groups in a medication trial. One group will receive the drug being tested; the other will receive a placebo (an inactive medication). The difference between these groups is what the research discovers and discovers.

Ideally, doctors would not choose which people to put in the comparison groups, which could introduce bias into the study results. Instead, they called randomization to ensure that random participants were assigned to the comparison groups by chance.

It can take years for a new medication to reach clinical trials, which is why it is essential to why participate in clinical trials. Before a new drug even gets to the point of testing in people, it must undergo extensive laboratory experiments, animal studies and other types of research. These preclinical trials help researchers determine if the new drug is safe and potentially positively affects a health outcome, such as how long a person can remain in remission from cancer or whether an experimental vaccine prevents illness.

Why Participate in a Clinical Trial?

People participate in clinical trials for a variety of reasons. Some healthy research volunteers want to help improve the world, while others say their participation can enhance their health. Others hope to find a cure or solution for a disease in their family. Still, other patients may feel their treatment options have run out, so they decide to join a trial in the hopes that it might extend their life.

Other benefits of participating in a trial include receiving care from medical professionals who are specialists in the study topic and accessing medication or procedures that are unavailable at a regular hospital or clinic. Furthermore, all participants are monitored closely by trained clinical research staff and follow strict protocols, ensuring they get the best possible care.

Participation in a clinical trial can also be rewarding for some healthy volunteers because they may receive compensation for their time and travel expenses or the tests required during the trial. Moreover, the clinical trial results may be published in scientific journals and used by doctors to inform their practice. However, researchers must ensure that the patient’s safety and well-being are protected by carefully defining the eligibility criteria for each trial before it begins.

How Do I Participate in a Clinical Trial?

Advertisements ask people with certain medical conditions to participate in research studies. While nothing obligates you to participate in any investigation, it is important to understand how clinical trials work and the benefits and risks. Before you agree to participate, you should read the research study’s protocol summary (a document outlining how the researchers plan to conduct the study) and ask questions.

Talk with your doctor or visit a website listing ongoing health research studies to learn about a trial. Some studies are listed by health condition or disease, while others are classified by study phase.

Once you have found a study, the research team will explain the purpose of the study and what will happen during the study. They will also explain all potential risks and benefits. Once you have all this information, you can decide if participating in the study is right for you.

All clinical trials have guidelines about who can or cannot participate. These are called eligibility criteria, and they are used to help ensure that the results of the study will be reliable. The criteria usually include age, sex, general health, type and stage of the disease, and previous treatment history. Some studies also have criteria about whether a person can give informed consent.

What Are the Benefits of Participating in a Clinical Trial?

In addition to possibly being the first person in the world to try a new treatment, people participating in clinical trials also help medical researchers learn how best to care for patients. For example, a study may determine that certain symptoms are more important than others when diagnosing a condition or choosing the proper drug dose.

Clinical trial participants are often well cared for by trained health professionals. This may include specialist doctors and research nurses who visit them at their homes, hospitals or clinics. They will usually have regular contact with a doctor (investigator) and, for some studies, extra visits to collect more data or carry out tests such as blood work. For long-term studies involving medical devices such as pacemakers and neurostimulators, patients may have more frequent visits with the device programmer or technician.

The decision to participate in a clinical trial is very personal and must be made carefully by each participant. Some people join because they hope that the experimental treatment will improve their health, while others think of it as helping medical science and other patients in the future.

The safety of all participants in a clinical trial is a priority for the research team. If the experimental treatment is causing more harm than good, it will be stopped. This will allow other patients to receive the new medicine quickly.