Without a doubt, clinical trials are at the heart of all medical advances which allow researchers to look for new ways to prevent, treat and detect diseases. Through this process, clinical trials can evaluate the safety and efficiency of new treatments that otherwise wouldn’t be available to people.

People sometimes hesitate to take part in clinical trials as they often have pre misconceptions or are maybe unsure of what is involved. What we forget a lot of the time is that most of us have in some way benefited from research without necessarily realising it!

Drugs that are available today wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for people taking part in research. Therefore, clinical trials are absolutely crucial to the advancement and development of medical procedures and treatments and can change many of the chronic conditions that you or your loved ones deal with on a daily basis.

What are clinical trials?

Clinical trials are medical research studies aiming to find out whether a medical strategy, treatment or device is safe and effective for humans to use or consume.

Doctors and healthcare professionals need clinical trials to be able to assess which new or combined treatments are safe and work better or differently to treatments we already have available.

Studies will follow strict scientific standards and ethical guidelines that aim to protect participants and provide reliable and accurate results.

Why take part?

Clinical trials are designed to benefit the participant and can provide valuable information to both participants and researchers alike.

The main benefits taking part in clinical trial are:

• Free comprehensive health checks
• Treatment that may be more effective than the standard approach
• Participants have access to drugs that aren’t available to the public yet
• Doctors can identify a syndrome or condition
• Participants are provided with specialist care they wouldn’t normally have access to
• Contributing to moving forward in finding a cure for diseases or conditions
• Contributing to the discovery of new medicine

Whatever treatment you have, there are procedures in place to make sure any risks of trials are as low as possible.  Participants of trials are monitored closely throughout their study duration to see any issues before they become a problem.

Who can take part in clinical trials?

There are common myths and misconceptions about clinical trials only being suited towards people who are already ill or have health conditions. Depending on the aim and criteria of certain studies, healthy volunteers or people on mild medication can often be in high demand for research.

For example, at Glasgow Memory Clinic, we are running The Gain Study for people who have an official diagnosis of mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s.

We pride ourselves in the care and attention we give to our participants at our state-of-the-art facility in Glasgow. It is essential for us that everyone who enquires or visits is made to feel welcome and appreciated for taking part in our groundbreaking research to help find a cure for Alzheimer’s.

To apply to take part in our current studies, click here.

To be the first to hear about our clinical trials at Glasgow Memory Clinic, Sign up to our mailing list.