Sleepless nights. Irritating skin conditions. Health concerns caused by diabetes. Depression.
All of these are conditions and instances that can be effectively treated with products that are developed through the clinical research process. Typically conducted in four different stages, clinical studies are used in a number of fields and can result in advancements that will help not only current, but also future patients.
Any time you are prescribed a drug or asked to purchase an over the counter medicine you are benefitting from the use of the clinical research study process. Diabetes clinical trials, for instance, continue to develop different kinds of insulin that can help patients more accurately adjust the blood sugar levels, leading to a more healthy and long life. Likewise, patients who suffer from sleepless nights can benefit from the research that is done in sleep labs across the country. IN addition to following a number of specifically regulated steps, clinical research also relies on adequate funding and the best kind of participants.
There are specific requirements and limitations for the various phases of drug trials. Consider some of these explanations:
Phase 1 Clinical Trials. These tests are used to test for safety in human use and include a large number of participants.
Phase 2 Clinical Trials. These tests are used to test the drug’s effectiveness at treating disease, and include an even larger group of people than those included in Phase 1. These studies can take up to two years.
Phase 3 Clinical Trials. These tests allow researchers to test large scale safety and effectiveness measures. This step is most notably followed in Phase 3 drug trials when the market is waiting for the latest research.
Phase 4 Clinical Trials. This final stage is used to test long term safety of a product or a treatment.
Although much of the attention of the media might be centered on Phase 3 drug trials and the implications for patients who are waiting for these results, no drug or treatment product can reach the market without making its way through all of the four stages.
