Did you know there are currently over 1,500 clinical trials for weight loss and obesity?
These trials can range from apps, to medications and different therapies that might be beneficial in weight loss.
What are weight loss clinical trials?
Perhaps you have heard about your favorite celebrity taking a new weight loss medication, or maybe your doctor has mentioned that you should try a newly approved medication to manage your weight.
There are many clinical trials for weight loss with their main goal of gaining FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approval. These new medications you have heard about on tv or social media all had their starts in clinical trials.
Weight loss clinical trials look to see if a new medication is safe to be used and if they actually work. This process can take many years and it involves many phases.
When you participate in a clinical trial, you will be asked to try a new medication or device while under strict doctor supervision. The information they collect during the trial will be used to show the FDA that the medication works and that it is safe.
What do you have to do during a clinical trial for weight loss?
Do your research
Participating in clinical trials involves a few steps. The first step we recommend is doing your research!
Make sure you have spoken with your healthcare provider and you have a good grasp on your current health.
Plus you won’t want to miss out on downloading our free guide to participating in clinical trials. It is your one stop for learning everything you need to know before making an informed decision.
It covers every step of the process in more detail and prepares you for your first appointment! We realized how daunting and complicated it can be to find and enroll into a clinical trial which is exactly why we are here!
Study visits
Once you have made up your mind about joining a clinical research study for weight loss, you will have to visit the clinical research clinic.
On your first visit you shouldn’t expect to get any medication. Usually this visit is known as your “screening” visit which means you will get all the information you need to make sure you understand the clinical study. You will read the consent before signing it and all of your questions will be answered by the research staff at the clinic.
If you agree and decide to sign, you are now officially enrolled in the study! But… usually you will have to do tests, physicals and other procedures to make sure you are eligible to continue and take the medication in future visits.
Once the results come back from the “screening visit” the clinic will contact you and you will know if you can continue in the trial.
If so, you will have multiple visits during the trial to make sure you are safe and that you are ok with continuing to take the medication.
Clinical trials can go on for a long time but once the trial is completed, the clinical research doctor will help to guide you as you stop the trial medication.
Why should you participate in clinical trials?
There are many possible benefits to participating in a clinical trial for weight loss. Chances are you may have heard about new medications for weight loss and are wondering if you can take part in clinical trials.
Even though at first the biggest benefit to taking part in a clinical study for weight loss may seem to be the possibility of losing weight; there are additional benefits you may not know about.
Contribution to science
By participating in a clinical trial for weight loss, you are helping to advance healthcare! Every participant in a clinical trial counts in helping to make new medications and treatments. The information you can provide researchers for participating in the trial is invaluable!
Getting paid to participate in a weight loss trial
Most clinical trials offer compensation for your time and effort in participating in their trial. Since you will most likely have to commute, possibly lose time away from your day job and take a new medication, there is usually compensation for each visit.
Some trials offer travel compensation in addition to a stipend for each completed visit at the clinic. Some of the visits may even be over the phone and will still offer compensation for your time.
You may lose weight
If you have attempted to lose weight on your own or through the guidance of a doctor, and have not been successful; a clinical trial for weight loss might be right for you.
We have all heard the same advice of following a strict diet and doing exercise. However, this is easier said than done and many times there are lots of factors that may contribute to your inability to lose weight.
There may be other options for you if you are currently struggling to lose weight. You should visit your doctor, go over you goals with them and see what your best course of action should be. By bringing up your interest in clinical studies, your doctor can help you make an educated decision.
It is important to mention that in clinical trials not everyone gets the “real” medication, some participants get the “placebo” or the “sugar pill”. This means that if you receive the placebo chances are you will not lose weight and even if you get the “real” medication it is still not guaranteed that it will work for you.
What to consider before participating in clinical research
Of course there are many things to consider before participating in a clinical trial for weight loss or obesity. A few of these would be:
Your medical history and clearance from your doctor for weight loss clinical trials
Before participating in clinical research, it is important to make sure that you are healthy enough to do so! Your doctor or specialist will be able to advise you on whether a clinical trial can help you in your weight loss journey.
Most clinical trials will involve medications or therapies that may interfere with medications you are currently taking or with other health conditions you may have.
There can be different health conditions that may prevent you from participating in certain clinical trials as they will have different criteria. However, you will learn more about the criteria once you are in contact with the clinical research site.
Length of the weight loss trial
Once your doctor has given you the green light to participate in a clinical trial, your next concern may be the length of the weight loss trial. This is important because if you receive medication that is working with your weight loss, once the trial ends you may put the weight back on.
Clinical trials are testing new medications and therapies in order to see if they are safe and if they actually work. Weight loss trials do have an end date as you may be enrolled in the trial for 6 months to a few years.
Once the trial ends you will not be able to continue on the treatment or medication or weight loss. If the medication is approved, your doctor may be able to prescribe it for you. However, it may be years before the FDA approves the new weight loss medication.
Study compensation for the weight loss trial
You might also be concerned as to how much you will be paid to participate in a clinical trial for weight loss. This is an important factor as every weight loss clinical trial pays different stipends depending on what is involved in the study.
The clinical research site will cover this information with you. As your participation in the clinical trial will involve visits to the site and other procedures that take time, you should consider if the stipend is enough to cover your travel expenses.
Study requirements to participate in the weight loss trial
One of the biggest factors to consider when looking into participating in a weight loss clinical trial would be the time commitment. The trial can involve multiple visits to the clinical research site which might mean you will have to take time off from work or school.
It is important to make sure that you will be able to comply with the clinical trial requirements with your current lifestyle.
The clinical trial site will also go over the different visits to the clinic and what is involved. You may have to have your labs drawn, complete a physical exam or fill out questionnaires. This way you know ahead of time what to expect and whether you will be able to complete these requirements once you enroll.
How do you find the right clinical trial for weight loss or obesity?
We highly recommend you download our free guide to participating in clinical trials and join our newsletter so you don’t miss out on clinical trial updates!
Of course you can also explore TheClinResearcher.com for a growing resource on everything clinical research. We are constantly updating the site to ensure we can raise awareness of clinical trials.
To find clinical trials in your area head over to clinicaltrials.gov and filter out for your specific criteria. You can filter out by indication, location and other factors to narrow down your search. There are many different clinical trials for weight loss listed which makes it easy to find the right one.
Wrap up
To wrap up, we covered what clinical trials are, why you should consider participating and how you can find weight loss clinical trials!
We hope that we have been helpful in your clinical trials journey and we are excited to know you will be joining our newsletter!