Clinical trials are carefully planned, conducted, and monitored by investigators. They are usually performed on larger groups or with larger numbers of people than are included in the research itself. Clinical trials are scientific investigations carried out to uncover better methods to prevent, screen for, treat, or diagnose disease. These clinical trials can also reveal that medical methods work best for specific groups or even just for certain ailments.
Phases Of Clinical Trials
There are 3 phases to clinical trials. The first clinical trial phase, is the investigation stage. It is during this stage that the investigators determine the safety and effectiveness of the treatment. It is during this phase that preliminary data is accumulated to determine the likely course of treatment. This is the phase in which investigators compare the results from the phase with the planned data collection at the end of the trial so that the investigators can determine if the clinical trial was successful and what the most likely outcome might be.
The Second Phase
The second phase is called the control phase. During the control phase, the researchers administer the placebo or placebos to control the number of patients who receive the real prescription drugs. The purpose of this study is not to discover the actual efficacy of the medicine but simply to manipulate the number of patients receiving the medication so that the investigators can determine the effectivity of the drug without having to collect the actual data. Patients and doctors both know that the number of patients receiving real prescription drugs is always greater than those who received the placebo or placebos.
Double-Blind Control Studies
ECRF clinical trials differ from other types of medical trials in several ways. For one, they must be double-blind, meaning that the patients are assigned either the real treatment or a placebo, and their clinical data will be kept private. Also, there is no way to tell which group is more likely to give the positive results than the other. During the study, patients are asked about their experience with the new drug, what side effects they had experienced while taking it, the time they felt an effect, how often they have sore muscles or headache, and any complications they might have experienced. A special type of tablet is used in clinical trials to count how many times patients experience these side effects.
Gathering Data
However, not all clinical trials follow these guidelines. There are still some that do not follow the principles of double-blind and placebo-controlled phase. Some studies simply gather patients’ information and then use manipulative means to make conclusions. Sometimes, clinical trials gather patients’ data but then ask them to answer questions that make it impossible for them to accurately depict any real results. These kinds of clinical trials are known as case reports, and they lack the scientific standards of the trials.
EU Databases
For these reasons, the European Union clinical trials database has made it possible for researchers to compare two groups of patients using identical procedures and drugs under identical circumstances. Through this network, clinical trials become more transparent, allowing researchers to conduct further research on different diseases and treatments with high-quality data sources. Patients no longer need to fear that the doctor will decide which drug to give them and which one do not. Instead, all they need to know is which treatment had better effects on them.
