Originally published August 28 2005
Internet use makes for better medical research
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A new study by the University of California - San Francisco affirms the feasibility of using the internet to conduct gold-standard medical research.
The supplements' effects were not remarkable, according to the study; neither provided more insomnia or anxiety relief than placebo.
While the results echo earlier findings, the researchers' use of the Internet for everything -- from recruitment to patient consent to data collection -- makes the study unique.
"You can roll out a study much quicker, which allows you to get results much quicker," said Bradly Jacobs, lead study author and assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
Drawbacks and limitations of pure online research include the inability to test therapies that require someone to treat or observe participants as well as safety concerns about testing pharmaceutical products.
A 2003 online clinical trial investigating the effects of glucosamine on osteoarthritis of the knee cost about $914 per participant, compared with $1,925 for a similar hospital-based trial, according to the computer-based study, for which McAlindon served as lead researcher.
In the kava-valerian trial, Jacobs and his team created a Web site for the study, advertised on two women's health Web sites and used an e-mail list from Alternative Medicine magazine to draw more than 1,500 registrants.
Because using the Internet requires no face-to-face contact, the researchers took extra steps to confirm participants' identities.
In the 2003 glucosamine trial -- funded by the Arthritis Foundation and the National Library of Medicine -- patients received glucosamine or placebo by mail and filled out online questionnaires that measured their symptoms at least every two weeks, said McAlindon.
Jacobs said recruiting took only six weeks for his study, compared with the nine months to two years that he would have expected using conventional methods.
In traditional clinical trials, "you sweat blood trying to get patients in," said McAlindon.
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