Behind every medical advancement in the modern world, you’ll find a series of clinical trials. And who’s behind these clinical trials? Regular folks like you. Thanks to the efforts of countless volunteers over the years, researchers have made regular improvements in healthcare by finding new ways to detect, prevent, and treat diseases. This includes Alzheimer’s clinical trials.
If you’ve decided to become a volunteer for a clinical trial in Michigan or would like a senior you love to participate in one, this information will help guide you through the process.
Alzheimer’s Clinical Trial
The most common way of looking for a certain type of trial (Alzheimer’s) in a certain location (Michigan) is to use an online search tool. Most of the registries available for searching clinical trials ask you to use a search box or choose from a drop-down list of parameters to find the kind of trial you’re looking for.
If you don’t see an option to choose the State of Michigan, try selecting “Advanced Search”. In many search forms, this brings up a whole new set of parameters to use for narrowing down your search results.
Here are the top sites to use in your search for an Alzheimer’s clinical trial.
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The Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral Center
The National Institute on Aging, a federal agency that falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has a handy search tool on their website.
You can use it to search for Michigan-based clinical trials and studies on Alzheimer’s, as well as other types of dementia. They also include caregiving trials in their database so Michigan residents who care for a loved one may find studies and trials for themselves, too.
The tool is maintained by The Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral Center, which also provides useful information about the generalities of volunteering for trials. This includes guidance such as what to expect and how volunteering is tied to leaving a legacy. The information is presented in video format on the YouTube channel of the National Institute of Aging.
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Alzheimer’s Association’s TrialMatch®
The Alzheimer’s Association is a not-for-profit organization that runs a matching service called TrialMatch®. It is free and open to individuals with Alzheimer’s, their caregivers, and healthy individuals who simply want to help out by volunteering.
You will, however, need to create an online account and then complete a questionnaire. Then, the organization creates a profile for you, logs it into their database, and attempts to match you with a trial in Michigan. They notify you when a match is found.
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The National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Like the National Institute on Aging, NIH operates under the wing of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. They too offer a database that can be used to find clinical Alzheimer’s trials in Michigan.
You can search the Clinical Trials Database which currently lists roughly 238,000 studies in all 50 states. It covers all types of international trials, not just Alzheimer’s-related research.
Once you’ve found a suitable trial that’s located in Michigan, your next step will be to find out who’s eligible to participate. Look for the “Protocol” section of the trial description for that information. They’ll also give details about procedures, as well as how long the study lasts and what type of data will be collected from participants.
Your search doesn’t end here, but this is enough to get you started in your quest to find a suitable trial that takes place in Michigan. Want to see what past clinical trials have discovered about Alzheimer’s? Here’s one on meditation and Alzheimer’s.