Biomedical Research and Development of New Treatments
Advances in medicine most of which are a result of biomedical research have significantly improved public health because many serious diseases can be successfully treated and often prevented. Unfortunately, the scientists still do not have a cure for all diseases. In addition, the germs that caused thousands or even millions of deaths in the past are evolving resistance to the available treatments, while the emergence of the so-called super bugs is posing a serious public health concern. Biomedical researchers therefore have plenty of work and will have it in the future as well. However, their job is not only to develop effective treatments and preventive measures but also to improve the safety of some of the existing treatments that successfully cure or manage a disease but can cause potentially serious side effects.
The development of new treatments in all fields of biomedical research is generally divided into two types known as pre-clinical research and clinical trials. Both are equally important for the introduction of new treatments although scientists working in pre-clinical research often get more attention. This is due to the fact that they are the ones who make the crucial breakthroughs in the field of public health, microbiology, oncology, cellular biology and other fields of biomedical research. However, discovering a potential treatment is not enough. Firstly, the scientists have to confirm the effects of a particular substance by repeating the experiment several times, then they usually test it on mice to exclude toxicity to healthy cells and in the end, they have to develop it in large enough quantities for human testing. If they fail in any of the mentioned steps, their discovery has no use for the patients waiting for an effective treatment because the new treatment also needs to be safe and produced in large enough quantities to be distributed to the general population.
Clinical trials on humans can start only when pre-clinical research confirms that the new treatment is both safe and effective. Since clinical trials involve testing of new treatments on humans, they are usually broken up into three phases. The first phase involves testing on fewer than 100 volunteers, the second phase tests the new treatment on several hundred volunteers, while the third and the last phase of clinical trials typically includes a large number of people ranging from several hundred to several thousands in order to make sure that the new treatment is both safe and effective before making it available to the general public. Since potential side effects of the treatment may not be apparent immediately, clinical trials usually last several years.
Patients suffering from incurable diseases are often disappointed when discovering how long it can take before a newly discovered treatment will become available. It is possible to receive the new treatment earlier by participating in clinical trials but until all available options are exhausted, doctors usually do not recommend to take part in clinical trials. It is also important to be aware, that a treatment that is still being clinically tested will not necessarily cure the disease and that potentially serious side effects cannot excluded.