• PDtrials - Parkinson's Disease Clinical Trials
• /Clinical Research 101
• /What is a Clinical Trial?

Here are some of the benefits you may wish to consider when deciding to participate in a clinical  ClinicalDealing with or based on observation and treatment of people, as opposed to basic science carried out in the laboratory or in animals. study:

• People who take part in clinical trials believe that doing so will benefit themselves and others now or in the future. The medications that you take now are available only because people before you volunteered to participate in clinical trials.
• You will have access to leading healthcare professionals and to potentially useful new therapies that are usually free of charge and are provided under high standards of care.
• Joining a clinical trial  Clinical Trial (Clinical Study)A scientific study involving human participants to determine the safety and efficacy of new therapies or new ways of using known treatments. can increase your knowledge and understanding of Parkinson’s disease and how it specifically affects you.
• Many trial participants report that they received excellent or good quality care, and that the overall experience was a positive one.

Although every effort is made to ensure that clinical trials are as safe as possible, clinical trials that test new therapies are experimental and can involve risk. A health professional will explain the possible risks and side-effects associated with the trial or treatment during a process called the informed consent.  Informed ConsentThe process of providing information to potential study participants to help them decide whether or not to enroll in a specific clinical trial. You should also discuss participating in a clinical trial with your doctor. Consider the following aspects before joining a clinical trial:

• Potential side-effects. You may experience undesirable side-effects. These include known side-effects but also potential new risks that may emerge as the new treatment is tested.
• You may not receive the active study medicine or treatment – that is, you may have been chosen at random to receive a comparison treatment  Comparison TreatmentTreatment used as a relative measure in controlled trials to “test” a treatment or “prove” its effectiveness in the absence of some absolute or relative measure of success. The effect of a treatment is measured against a comparison treatment administered over the same time period and under similar conditions. (a different dose of the “test” treatment, a treatment that is already available that is considered standard therapy  TherapyAnother word for “treatment”. for the disease or a placebo)  PlaceboAn inactive substance or procedure (often a pill, liquid, or powder) that has no biological effect. In clinical trials, experimental treatments are often compared with placebos to assess the treatment's effectiveness. In some studies, the participants will be assigned to a control group and will receive a placebo instead of an active drug or treatment. .
• You may join a trial that does not succeed. Many medications that are tested in clinical trials prove unsuccessful but the knowledge gained remains valuable and important to furthering our understanding of Parkinson’s.
• Participation may require time and travel which may not be reimbursed.

Find more information about benefits and risks of participating in clinical research  Clinical ResearchPatient-oriented research conducted with human participants (or on material of human origin such as tissues and specimens) for which an investigator directly interacts with human participants. This area of research includes: mechanisms of human disease, therapeutic interventions, clinical trials, or development of new technologies. here.