The Fastest Way To Find a Parkinson Clinical Trial

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive nervous system disorder that affects movement by causing tremors, stiffness, and difficulty with balance, walking, and coordination. There are more than 10 million people in the world living with Parkinson’s disease, most of whom are diagnosed after the age of 50.

Although it is incurable, various treatments, medications, and surgeries can help stabilize the symptoms. Scientists are constantly searching for a cure—to find it, they conduct clinical trials. Find out more about Parkinson’s clinical trials, if you can participate in a clinical trial, and how to find a clinical trial near you.

What Is a Parkinson Clinical Trial?

There is still not enough information about the progression of Parkinson’s disease and its cause. As a result, there is not a single treatment or a drug that has proved successful enough to stop the progression of the disease.

There are three types of drugs currently used for treatment:

• Drugs that induce dopamine level in the brain
• Drugs that affect other chemicals in the brain
• Drugs used to control nonmotor symptoms

The main therapy used for treating Parkinson’s disease is levodopa (L-dopa)—a dopamine-inducing drug.

None of the treatments that are currently in use can cure Parkinson’s disease. The role of clinical trials is to change that. A clinical trial is, by definition, a medical study that uses human volunteers to examine a new drug, therapy, or treatment. It is a necessary step to groundbreaking medical discoveries. Clinical trials may be organized by government health organizations, research or university medical centers, independent researchers, hospitals, or private industries, usually pharmaceutical companies.

For healthy volunteers, clinical trials can be a way to earn money—compensation can range from $100 to $10,000 per trial. For patients, they can represent a possibility for healing—clinical trials can provide new treatments, unavailable for the general public.

Clinical Trial Phases

Part of the obligatory protocol used in clinical trials is following carefully monitored phases designed to answer certain questions. You can see a description of the phases in the following table:

Can I Participate in a Parkinson Clinical Trial?

Participation in clinical trials is voluntary, and you can participate in a Parkinson clinical trial if you:

1. Have Parkinson’s disease
2. Are a healthy volunteer

Depending on the type of study, there will be a set of requirements that volunteers need to fulfill to participate. The set of requirements—eligibility criteria (inclusion and exclusion criteria)—is used to verify that you are suitable for a trial, and they often include:

• Age
• Gender
• Medical record

If you are a Parkinson’s patient, the screening will probably involve questions about the development of your disease, treatment history, and current medication.

Where To Get More Information About Parkinson’s Disease?

Check out this table to find some of the organizations and institutes you can connect with if you have additional questions about Parkinson’s:

DoNotPay Is The Fastest Way To Find a Parkinson Clinical Trial

The search for a clinical trial can be a time-consuming process. You have to choose a location, find a clinic, compare clinical studies from different sources, and check the eligibility criteria. We are here to show you how to find clinical trials in just a few steps:

1. Open DoNotPay in your web browser
2. Go to Clinical Trials option
3. Click Get Started button
4. Set up the filters you want
5. Click on a study you like
6. Click Contact Now

We will then contact the researcher you chose, which will help you maximize the chances of enrollment. It is an easy process, and you can do it for an unlimited number of studies. We recommend that you try our real-time notification feature, where you can sign up to get notification text whenever a new study in your area shows up. You can also try our bookmarking feature that allows you to follow the bookmarked study’s progress. These features will help you increase the chances of enrollment by 30%!

Are There Other Ways To Find Parkinson Clinical Trials?

There are other safe options for finding a Parkinson clinical trial—your doctor can provide you with the information you need, or you can research by yourself. If you decide to do the research, you should check out these websites:

• Parkinson Study Group (PSD) includes links to numbers of ongoing Parkinson’s clinical trials and Parkinson-related events
• ClinicalTrials.gov provides a search option and can connect you with clinical trials in over 150 countries
• CenterWatch includes links to research clinics and other facilities that conduct clinical trials
• Fox Trial Finder matches volunteers with researchers and lists ongoing Parkinson’s trials

Things To Think About Before Signing Up For a Parkinson Clinical Trial

You should bear in mind that there are always potential risks included when it comes to clinical research. Some of the disadvantages that could discourage you from entering a clinical trial are:

• There may be side effects
• You may not receive the experimental treatment
• The treatment may not be effective
• You may not get compensated

When you accept to enroll in a clinical trial, you will be asked to sign an informed consent. Before signing it, the research team should explain all the details of the document and all the steps of the trial. They should also inform you that it does not oblige you to stay against your will and that you can leave the trial if you feel uncomfortable in any way.

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We can help you find other clinical trials as well—a nilotinib Parkinson clinical trial, pain management clinical trials, or recent psychological studies if that’s what you’re looking for. We also offer help dealing with Health Hotline Robocalls, paying your medical bills, or your dental bills. Access DoNotPay from your web browser, and make your life easier!

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