Help Wanted: How clinical trials help fight disease

(Family Features) – Clinical trials are necessary for finding new ways of preventing, detecting or treating diseases, but often, limited participation creates challenges for meeting clinical trial goals. Despite decades of effort and strategies to identify and address barriers to recruiting and enrolling study participants, recruitment challenges persist, particularly among women, older adults and diverse patient populations.“Potential study participants are reluctant to get involved for a variety of reasons, including the time commitment, lack of clarity regarding safeguards for their well-being and concerns about how their medical condition will be handled during the study,” said Alan Moss, MD, chief scientific officer with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, the leading nonprofit organization focused on both research and support of people living with inflammatory bowel disease – known as IBD.Related Stories “Taking part in a clinical trial gives patients an opportunity to access new therapies and can help shape future treatment, including how diseases are diagnosed, treated and even prevented.”Learning more about the important role clinical trials play in health care may ultimately help you or someone you love find a new treatment or manage a condition, such as IBD, more effectively.Importance of clinical trialsFinding a treatment that relieves patients’ symptoms and...