Finding a cure for Parkinson's is directly related to recruiting and
retaining enough people with Parkinson’s (PWP) to participate in
clinical trials. Currently, fewer than 1% do -- woefully short of the
number that researchers anticipate will be needed over the next two to
three years.
Difficulty recruiting and retaining enough participants to test the
safety and effectiveness of new treatments is a major obstacle to
finding a cure for Parkinson’s. Our nation’s top scientists are sitting
in state-of-the-art labs with a myriad of promising research ideas and
the funding to test them, but too few PWP to get clinical trials
underway. The repercussions of this crisis will negatively impact our
children and grandchildren long after we are gone.
If you are a “newbie,” diagnosed within the last five years and have not
yet taken any Parkinson’s medications, you are likely eligible for more
trials than you ever will be again. Make the most of this window of
opportunity. Often these early trials hold the greatest promise for
finding treatments that slow disease progression or are neuroprotective.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America estimates that
ONLY five of 5,000 compounds tested on animals make it to human
trials—and ONLY one in five of those may reach the market.
Moving new treatments through the drug pipeline -- from the laboratory
to the marketplace -- takes about 8-1/2 years, time we do not have to
waste. Increasing clinical trial participation by only two or three
percent could significantly reduce the time required for completion of a
study, potentially making more effective treatments or even a cure
available sooner.
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Jean and the study doctor for the POSTCEPT trial
If you are waiting for someone to knock on your door and hand you the
cure, I assure you that it won’t happen. We will get a cure only when
each of us assumes our responsibility and steps up to the plate and
participates in clinical trials. No one else can do this for us.
Jean and I have both participated in clinical trials, which you can read
about on succeeding pages. We’re not asking you to do anything we
haven’t done. We’re simply asking you to do your part. Like it or not
we, and each of our families, are in this together. We sink or swim as
one.
If you are among the 99% of people with Parkinson’s (PWP) who have NOT
participated in a clinical trial, ask yourself, in the words of the
ancient scholar Hilell, “If not you, then who? If not now, then when?”
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