New research and medical treatments are being discovered every day. Diseases that meant death 15 years ago are not chronic illnesses today. Debilitating symptoms have found new treatments in clinical trials.
There are risks and benefits involved in participating in clinical trials, and you should consider all of them before deciding to sign up. The benefits of clinical trials include access to treatments not available to the public and expert care at some of the best medical facilities. Sometimes, these treatments have serious and life-threatening side effects, and they can be very expensive.
Benefits
A diagnosis can be overwhelming, and the difficult decisions must be made quickly. In the treatment of disease, you might feel the medical community makes the decisions and you are simply along for the ride.
Participating in a clinical trial can give you some control over your disease and its treatment. You have a voice in the treatment and your specific experience regarding the side effects are heard and addressed. Each clinical trial has a team of experts to track your progress and keep track of the statistics and data that will be needed to created the clinical reports.
While participating in a clinical trial, you have the knowledge that your treatment and care are advancing medical research and could help others with your condition. There is something liberating in knowing that your suffering might ease another’s future.
Risks
The risks in participating in a clinical trial are not to be taken lightly. The biggest risk is the possibility of serious or life-threatening side effects. A second risk to consider is that the treatment might not work on you. All treatments do not work the same way on illnesses. Pharmaceutical consulting companies work to ensure that the medication works on some of the illnesses, with a goal of treating all of the illnesses.
One area that people also worry about when taking part in these kinds of trials is the sharing of their personal information. When reporting the results participants are anonymised use a Confidential shredding service such as that offered by https://www.printwaste.co.uk/ to ensure that all information is kept in the strictest confidence.
Another factor to consider is that the treatment may be expensive, and many of them are not covered by insurance. You might also need to cover the expense of traveling to and from the study facility over great distances. Financial costs in participating in a clinical trial should be something to consider when determining whether or not to sign up.
Clinical trials have benefits and risks that must be weighed. You should consider your options carefully and determine the best course of action for you.