That's right, patients, everyday, ordinary patients like us--are being asked to join in reviewing grants next year.
e-Patient Dave has a great, non-technical breakdown of the easy application process.
Longtime readers of my blog know that one of my passions is encouraging more women to participate in heart-related research.
This is a step better; it's a chance for patients to actually shape the direction of new research.
We're being invited to the table. The chair's been pulled out for us. Will we sit down and make our voices heard?
Showing posts with label clinical trials. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clinical trials. Show all posts
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
SCAD studies now on clinicaltrials.gov
Longtime readers will know that I love pointing people to clinicaltrials.gov, to seek out research that we can participate in.
It's one of the most comprehensive and reliable sources for that kind of information.
Now Mayo's two SCAD studies are listed on clinicaltrials.gov,
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT01427179
and
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01429727
This is excellent news, and I hope the listing leads other people -- men and women both -- who've had dissections to participate in the studies.
It's one of the most comprehensive and reliable sources for that kind of information.
Now Mayo's two SCAD studies are listed on clinicaltrials.gov,
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT01427179
and
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01429727
This is excellent news, and I hope the listing leads other people -- men and women both -- who've had dissections to participate in the studies.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Big news! Mayo announces SCAD studies!
I cannot tell you all how excited I am to see this.
Mayo Clinic is now doing two studies on Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissections.
http://newsblog.mayoclinic.org/2011/08/17/scad-spontaneous-coronary-artery-dissection-studies-at-mayo-clinic/
This is huge. SCADs are so rare and so poorly understood, to have a prestigious institution like Mayo taking an interest and doing studies is fantastic.
Here's to advancing medical knowledge!
Mayo Clinic is now doing two studies on Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissections.
http://newsblog.mayoclinic.org/2011/08/17/scad-spontaneous-coronary-artery-dissection-studies-at-mayo-clinic/
This is huge. SCADs are so rare and so poorly understood, to have a prestigious institution like Mayo taking an interest and doing studies is fantastic.
Here's to advancing medical knowledge!
Monday, August 15, 2011
Research Studies & Clinical Trials
Today's topic is again research studies and clinical trials.
I've covered this before, but it's important, especially for women, because as far as cardiac research is concerned, only around 27 percent of the participants are female, despite the fact that heart disease kills more women than men every year.
The Clinical Trials.gov website is still one of the best resources for finding studies.
Also, don't be shy about letting your cardiologist know that you're willing to participate in research.
That's how I found out that I'm not a poor Plavix metabolizer. When the news came out early last year that some people may be taking Plavix and not responding to it, I talked to my cardiologist, and he got me into a study that a colleague was conducting.
All it cost me was some time--one appointment, essentially--and a couple of vials of blood, and a week or two later, I found out that I'm not in the 2 percent of Caucasians who are poor metabolizers. And my stats are now in this researcher's database as part of the study.
A lot of studies or trials are more time-intensive than the one above, and if I had been unlucky enough to be a poor metabolizer, my participation in the study would have been more extensive.
I know it's time-consuming to participate. I work about 30 miles from where I live, and the hospital and cardiologist who are following me are about 10 miles in the other direction from my work commute. I lose at least three hours of work every time I see my cardiologist, and as the cliche goes, "time is money."
But where would we be without these studies, without these clinical trials?
Not to go all melodramatic here, but it really is a matter of life and death.
Heart disease is still so poorly understood in women; we need to step up and do our part to help. If not us, then who?
I've covered this before, but it's important, especially for women, because as far as cardiac research is concerned, only around 27 percent of the participants are female, despite the fact that heart disease kills more women than men every year.
The Clinical Trials.gov website is still one of the best resources for finding studies.
Also, don't be shy about letting your cardiologist know that you're willing to participate in research.
That's how I found out that I'm not a poor Plavix metabolizer. When the news came out early last year that some people may be taking Plavix and not responding to it, I talked to my cardiologist, and he got me into a study that a colleague was conducting.
All it cost me was some time--one appointment, essentially--and a couple of vials of blood, and a week or two later, I found out that I'm not in the 2 percent of Caucasians who are poor metabolizers. And my stats are now in this researcher's database as part of the study.
A lot of studies or trials are more time-intensive than the one above, and if I had been unlucky enough to be a poor metabolizer, my participation in the study would have been more extensive.
I know it's time-consuming to participate. I work about 30 miles from where I live, and the hospital and cardiologist who are following me are about 10 miles in the other direction from my work commute. I lose at least three hours of work every time I see my cardiologist, and as the cliche goes, "time is money."
But where would we be without these studies, without these clinical trials?
Not to go all melodramatic here, but it really is a matter of life and death.
Heart disease is still so poorly understood in women; we need to step up and do our part to help. If not us, then who?
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Clinical Trials
One statistic that always leaps out at me is that women only make up around 27% of the participants in heart-related research. I honestly feel like this is one reason why women die more frequently from their heart attacks than men do; there's simply not as much known about heart disease in women.
We can start to change that by participating in clinical trials. Here's a good source of clinical trials:
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/
In fact, searching that site, I just now found a study that's currently enrolling young women who've had heart attacks. As soon as this post is up, I'm going to email them and sign up, and I would encourage other women to seek out research opportunities as well.
We can start to change that by participating in clinical trials. Here's a good source of clinical trials:
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/
In fact, searching that site, I just now found a study that's currently enrolling young women who've had heart attacks. As soon as this post is up, I'm going to email them and sign up, and I would encourage other women to seek out research opportunities as well.
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