Medical Research

There are more than 3.6 billion prescriptions written per year in the U.S. and for the overwhelming majority of patients, those medicines have proven to be safe and effective.  According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), about 97%... Full Answer

Each year, the U.S. government invests billions of dollars in basic research -- laboratory-based studies designed to advance the frontiers of knowledge. It’s an investment that has yielded substantial returns: Biomedical advances invariably... Full Answer

A clinical trial is a carefully designed research study in which people participate as volunteers to test new methods of screening, preventing, diagnosing, or treating breast cancer. Clinical trials are also referred to as clinical studies, medical... Full Answer

The quality of evidence tells us how much we can trust it and how much we can rely on it to help us make decisions. Evidence quality can be rated using four levels: high, moderate, borderline, and inconclusive.High: When the quality is high, scientists... Full Answer

You may have had to make a lot of decisions since you've been told you have cancer. One of the most important decisions you will make is choosing which treatment is best for you. You may have heard about clinical trials being done for your type of... Full Answer

Some countries have laws that require researchers and pharmaceutical companies to give attention to rare diseases. That way, no matter how rare a disease is, patients can expect to find treatment and the orphan drugs developed to treat their rare... Full Answer

Some breast cancer treatments are experimental and are only available through clinical trials, which are studies used to help researchers understand the safety and efficacy of new treatments. If you are interested, or even just a little curious, about... Full Answer

If you are trying to understand the results of a research study, consider these questions: For how long was the study carried out? Sometimes it takes a generation (twenty years) to know the effects of a drug. An example was diethylstilbestrol (DES):... Full Answer

Horseshoe crabs play an important role in the testing of vaccines. Watch as Julie Scardina from SeaWorld and Dr. Oz discuss how horseshoe crabs can be helpful in vaccine testing, in this video. Full Answer

Clinical trials may be performed to do the following: Determine if a new drug or device is safe and effective Compare existing treatments to determine which is more effective Study different ways to use existing treatments so they will be more... Full Answer