In our last post, we talked about the exciting results of recent resveratrol clinical trials. Resveratrol is a plant compound that has been shown to lower insulin resistance in humans. Of course, resveratrol’s efficacy in humans could only be established through controlled and monitored clinical trials.
New diabetes management drugs will inevitably have to pass through diabetes clinical trials. Good, so what exactly is a clinical trial? At its most basic, a clinical trial is healthcare research, following a predetermined protocol, on people, to paraphrase the National Institute of Health’s definition.
The clinical trial has four distinct phases, each phase providing specific but different information regarding the drug or treatment.
In Phase I trials, the drug or treatment is tested on humans for the first time to determine safe dosage, and ascertain side effects.
Phase II sees the drug or treatment tested on a larger group of test subjects, numbering between 100 and 300 in all. Again, safety and efficacy is evaluated.
In Phase III, the test group is expanded from 1000 to 3000 subjects.
Phase IV sees further investigation into the drug’s risks, benefits, and optimal use-case.
Clinical trials are usually conducted at a diabetes center, of which there are many across the United States. If you think you might be a candidate for a diabetes clinical trial, see if there is a diabetes center near you currently conducting clinical trials. Who knows, you just might get to test resveratrol.