For researchers looking to investigate something around diabetes, the first challenge can often be finding some suitable guinea pigs to experiment on. Some might have a friendly hospital diabetic clinic who’ll let them speak to their patients, but most pancreatically challenged types are treated by GP’s, and aren’t so easy to get hold of.
Help Diabeates (bonus points awarded for clever integration of “beat” and “diabetes” to give puntastic name) is a campaign being run by the Diabetes Research Network and supported by the great and the good of the diabetes charity world. Its aim is to try and get a larger pool of diabetic types involved in research projects.
On the site you can register your interest in taking part in diabetes related research. Disappointingly, you’re not signing up to be randomly allocated to trials, kind of like a research Russian roulette where at the click of a mouse you’ve committed to having a leg chopped off to see if that helps your control or having your insulin withheld for a week to see what that does to you. That’s not the case at all. Rather boringly, you just give your contact details and a friendly soul from the NHS will give you a call to chat about how you might be able to help – if you’re a pumper you’re obviously going to be interested in different research projects compared to if you’re Type 2 on diet. Once they’ve had a high level chat they’ll ask whether you’d be happy to be approached to take part in any suitable studies. You’re basically joining a mailing list.
I’ve signed up. I have nothing to lose by knowing what projects are going on and volunteering to be a guinea pig for any that particularly appeal. If you’d like to do the same, click here.
[Tim edit – Alison’s evident Anglo-centric bias neglected to note that this is only for patients in England. But Scotland has a similar thing here: http://www.ukdrn.org/patients_involved.html. Tim’s evident Alba-centric bias neglects to care what they do in Wales or Northern Ireland.]
I was asked to be in a trial once; it involved taking your BG down to 2.0 (or similar) for about an hour. It sounded distinctly unpleasant and combined with having to take two days off work, I turned it down.
However, I do give a finger-full of blood to the LifeScan people up the Royal Infirmary every time I go for a check up. Mainly because it takes about 2 minutes, doesn’t hurt and they reward you with a crisp tenner.
Further to my edit in the article: our Welsh readers can go here: http://medic.cardiff.ac.uk/archive_subsites/_/_/medic/subsites/drnwales/index.html and our Northern Irish readers can go here: http://www.nicrn.hscni.net/ for their fix of wholesome research goodness.
Do we actually have any Welsh readers? I know we’ve got a few readers from Northern Ireland and the Republic, but I’m not sure about Wales…
Cymru am byth!
Didn’t we do well in the rugby this morning & not have to head home like all the other home nations…..
The less said about Scotland’s rugby performance the better…
At least “we”* can blame Bryce for giving us a law-rinse 🙂
*not me, really…not a fan of this hugging&rugging extravaganza
Fair point @Tim, note to self, must remember the whole of the UK when writing 😉
Boo, what about non-UKers?
@Skellehe – I’ve no idea, where are you from? I could probably find out for you. 🙂
@Tim Thanks for the link!
Unfortunately, the Cardiff Medical School site seems to be down at the moment… 🙁
Up & running now 😉
Is it still volunteering if you’re in the potential victim pool? *sniggers*
This page has more links…also for those not resident in UK or USA. (bugger U! No SA 🙁 )
The Welsh site takes you, eventually, to the NIHR site where you can enter your details to be contacted.
http://www.researchforthefuture.nihr.ac.uk/#wpcf7-f1-p2-o1
Presumably, the English & Scottish versions end up in the same place, so get volunteering.
Just been phoned back by people running this National Database. They are going to send me a pack and add my name and details to a National Database, of Diabetics available for research stuff.
It does not mean agreeing to do anything except being on a Database, and being contacted should anyone be doing diabetes research (in your area)