What is a clinical trial?
Dirty word? Or a way for us all to help advance scientific understanding?
The words ‘clinical research' are commonplace in glossy adverts claiming to reduce our wrinkles, turn back the years, or make us look instantly younger. We take comfort in the fact that the beauty brands have put considerable time and effort into ensuring that the products we choose for our beauty routine have been adequately tested.
However, when it comes to medicine many of us have a negative perception of clinical research or are simply complacent; we never give much consideration as to how everything from a simple aspirin pill to chemotherapy became available to us. Recent media reports have done little to improve our perception of clinical research, but what is the reality? What are clinical studies and how are they vital in shaping the future of medicine?
Before any medical treatment receives a license, it must undergo stringent testing, and before any treatment can be tested in humans it will have undergone extensive investigation in the laboratory and on animals.
It is a highly regulated industry and before any clinical study can be undertaken, approval must be sought from the appropriate regulatory authority. In the UK, this is the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The researchers conducting the study must draw up a protocol which will include information such as who and how many people will take part in the study, what questions the study aims to answer, what treatments will be compared and how the results will be collected.
The protocol then undergoes independent scientific review and must be approved by an ethics committee before a study can go ahead. These stringent checks are put in place to ensure that the study design is sound and that the research will respect the rights, dignity, safety and wellbeing of the participants.
If you volunteer for a clinical trial:
- You will usually visit the clinic more often
- You (and your carer if appropriate) can claim back your travel expenses for getting to and from the clinic (please keep your receipts or tickets, and show them to the study doctor or nurse)
- You may be given medication
- You may be asked for blood samples
There will always be details available of how to take any medication, and of what happens during your visits to the clinic available.
Your blood pressure and pulse will usually be monitored at every visit, and blood samples may be taken for safety measurements regularly during the study. A physical examination will usually be performed at the beginning and end of the study.
You will be asked about your past medical history and any medications, food supplements and vitamins you may take.
View our Current Studies
We're currently running a number of studies that relate to a wide range of conditions