Categories: Lifestyle

6 Reasons To Participate In Clinical Trials

For one reason or another, a lot of patients refuse to participate in clinical trials. Most people presume that they are dangerous or life-threatening. To be fair, most clinical trials are separated into three Phases. Phase II and III trials are generally the safest to participate in, as Phase I trials have yet to be tested on humans and you may experience adverse effects as a result. However, the benefits here may just outweigh the risks. Here are 6 reasons why.

IMAGE: PIXABAY

1. Help Others

Every single drug that is out on the market required the use of participants to test the drug on. Certain pharmaceuticals help people all around the world – such as Citalopram or Paxil (both of which are antidepressants). It would not have been possible without the help of willing participants that agreed to be part of experimental treatment.

2. Best Minds

As mentioned before, phase one clinical trials are trials that haven’t been tested on humans yet. However, these drugs before being released to the public (and even before being submitted to the FDA for testing) are significantly studied for six or more years. Departments and teams of scientists and doctors—some of them recognized nationally—provide oversight. Clinical trials are not spur-of-the-moment events where participants take a drug that was “created yesterday”.

3. Help Yourself

The drugs that can be used in these trials are crucial for diagnosing, preventing (and even curing) diseases and other illnesses. This means that, if you are suffering from such a disease or know someone who is, your direct participation will help scientists, international work groups and pharmaceutical pioneers refine medication that can drastically help you or someone you know. You will be directly responsible for helping yourself.

4. Physician Approved

Every physician review experimental medicine and the background science of each trial before allowing it to be conducted at their work facility. As they are directly responsible for the wellbeing of many patients, it’s unlikely they would willingly permit a trial to occur (or even ask for participants) if there were major risks. Therefore, your physician personally recommends you the trial option as a possible medical treatment.

5. Improved Health

We previously discussed the fact that you will be participating in the effectiveness of a drug for your disease or illness. However, it should be noted that a medical team will be assigned to carefully monitor the development of your disease and the status of your overall health. This means that they will do everything they can to make sure that you are in the prime state of health to receive the benefits of the drug(s) being tested.

6. Income

Depending on the company/organization/researchers conducting the trial study, there may be some monetary incentives for you to participate in clinical trials. Famed director Robert Rodriguez, early in his directing career, became a clinical experiment and earned himself a handsome $7,000 for it. However, the “ouch” factor of these trials and studies is directly connected to the payment. This means that the more invasive and painful the medical procedure, treatment or medication, the more substantial the payment.

Conclusion

Your safety is of the utmost importance. Be sure to carefully consider all benefits with your physician before moving forward. Each clinical trial requires qualification which you may or may not meet. There may be unpleasant side effects which is a reason many people do not participate. However, it is a matter of weighing the pros against the cons, which we’ve discussed here.

If you are interested in even more lifestyle-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels then we have a lot to choose from.