Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Fired Up for Clinical Trials

Its the 5th annual DBlog week
Day 1

The topic for today is:  What gets you fired up?

For me it would be participation in clinical trials.  My focus on diabetes since my transplant landed me in the heart of the research has been on finding the remaining path to the cure.  And the only road that I can visualize will depend on people signing up to participate in clinical trials to show that the research is indeed on the right path.

I'm not suggesting that anyone do anything that is dangerous.  These trials are set up to be successful.  There are health assessments and inclusion/exclusion criteria that screen out anyone who might not be healthy enough to withstand the treatment(s).

Another benefit of these trials is the amount of intensive health care you receive during the trials.  The doctors and nursed are very focused on what is happening both directly and indirectly from results of the treatment.

The trials usually pay for the medical expenses as well, so this is not a financial burden.  My insurance picked up the costs after the initial part of the trial ended very routinely.

And the biggest and most exciting benefit is getting to experience the benefits of the treatments much earlier than if you wait for it to become available to everyone.

I acknowledge the risks of this.  There are no guarantees.  But after doing some research into the procedure and the reputation and results obtained by the doctors and institution that you are involved with, it can be a very non-scary and extremely rewarding experience. 

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