Clinical Trials: How Latinos Can Help Their Community’s Health

By Veronica Landa, NewsTaco

There is little more frightening than finding out that you or a loved one is ill. Today we are fortunate to have tools at our disposal that can treat, prevent, and in many cases even cure the diseases and conditions that strike us. Treatments used today, from aspirin taken to eliminate a headache to the complex surgery performed to correct a heart defect were studied in clinical trials.

For Latinos, these discoveries are especially important as we are more susceptible to certain diseases, like cancer and diabetes, that are at the forefront of research.

When a new discovery is made that could better treat a condition, it is tested in laboratories on cells and then animals. Upon success, researchers set up a clinical trial where the new treatments can be tested in human volunteers. Selected at random, a portion of the volunteers receive the new treatment, while the remaining volunteers receive standard care, and the effects are then compared. From a small study, a second study with a larger group of people may be conducted, and so on until the effectiveness and risks of the new treatment can be confirmed. The more people involved, the more complete a picture researchers can get of the new treatment.

In addition to large numbers of people, diversity is also very important in clinical trials.  Researchers can only draw conclusions based on those who participate in a study. If, for example, all of the participants in a clinical trial are between the ages of 55 and 70, the effects discovered may be different in those who are younger than 55 or older than 70. When researchers strive to understand how their treatment will affect various types of people, they need to include them in their trials.

However, despite having higher rates of disease, Latinos and other minorities remain very underrepresented in clinical trials. Some treatments for conditions like depression, heart disease, and asthma have been shown to affect people of dissimilar races/ethnicities differently. For example, Latinos have higher rates of asthma than other populations. When treatments for asthma were examined more specifically, it was found that some were not as effective for Puerto Ricans as they were for others.

For most other treatments and disease, we are unaware of any differences because they have not yet been explored. Cancer is the leading cause of death in Latinos and has over 120,000 active NIH clinical trials, yet only 2-5% of those participants are Latino.  For less common diseases and conditions, participation can be even lower. This can have serious consequences because it is possible that some treatments for these diseases may be more or less effective, perhaps even harmful, to certain groups. Without their participation in clinical trials, we cannot find out.

Medical discoveries are happening at a fast pace and the only way to know what is best for us and future generations, is to get involved in research. Latinos often have more barriers to participating in clinical trials, yet in a survey 75% of Latinos said they would participate in a clinical trial if recommended by their doctor. However, despite hundreds of thousands of clinical trials going on, 70% of doctors do not talk to their patients about participation, so it is up to you to ask.

If you are ill and want to contribute to the advancement of treatment of your disease or if you are well and want to help a suffering loved one, you can ask your doctor about trials for which you might qualify. You can also do research on your own by exploring websites like ClinicalTrials.gov, CenterWatch.com, or ciscrp.org

Clinical trials are completely voluntary and you can withdraw at any time. It is important to ask questions about any and all concerns you may have. Healthy people can participate in prevention trials or disease specific trials as a control and are just as important to clinical trials and the advancement of medicine as sick ones. Participation also comes with the added security of closer monitoring of your health because additional people will be looking after you and your well-being.

Latinos currently represent 17% of the US population, but only 1% of clinical trial participants. If we want to learn more about how to keep ourselves and our families healthy in the future, we need to take an active role in research and our health now. 

Veronica Landa, MPH, is a Research Coordinator on a study funded by the National  Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, where she received her Masters in Public Health. She also attended Stanford University where she graduated with a BS in Science, Technology, and Society. You can reach her at: veronica.i.landa@gmail.com.

[Photo by Esther Dyson/Flickr]

 

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