Measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox all have one thing in common - they're all diseases formerly common in childhood that have now become very rare thanks to clinical trials.
When a baby is born, a routine immunisation schedule is devised to help protect that baby from getting a serious disease that often results in death or permanent impairment. Vaccinations used for children are a result of past clinical trials determining which vaccination mixture is successful at preventing certain diseases.
These trials are only possible when parents are willing to let their children participate. Researchers work with children who currently have a serious illness, and they also work with children who are healthy. While allowing a child to take part in a clinical trial can seem worrisome, it's because of the parents who understood the importance of medical research that parents today can live without worrying about their child contracting certain diseases.
One thing medical researchers do is study a child who currently has a disease, such as diabetes, cancer, or leukemia, and see how the disease progresses, what types of treatments it reacts positively to, and the appropriate dosage for medications. Researchers may even compare sick children with healthy children to better understand a diseases progression and research how quickly a healthy child can become ill upon contraction of certain diseases.
People willing to take part in clinical research not only help other children but adults as well. Since children are often not used for clinical research, many of the medicines they receive have only been tested on adults. Since the immune system of a child is different than that of an adult, being able to actually conduct research with children is imperative to creating medicines and treatments that greatly benefit a child. Some trials are designed for children and some are not.
What It's Like for to Participate
Whenever someone hears clinical trials, they aren't sure what to think. What will happen? How will the research affect them? Will they react negatively to any of the medications being tested? When children are subject to testing, parents are full of questions and the children may be worried about the process, too. It's important to know that for kids, a pediatric research team will involve many people. There will be administrators, doctors, and nurses used during the study. The same goes for older volunteers.
People and parents need to be proactive when taking part in a clinical or pediatric study. The research team will meet with both the individual or child (and parents, if applicable) to answer any questions and explain the study. In some clinical trials a person is trying a new study medicine, other times they are simply being studied and compared to other previous studies. To ease fears and make sure the person is taking part because he or she wants to help, keep communication open and make sure all of the child's questions are answered before participating. Many children find it rewarding to help out medical researchers and make a difference in others lives.
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