Some research studies conducted to find possible causes or treatments for asthma, or to investigate social or psychological aspects of the condition, require human involvement. These are known as clinical trials.
Clinical trials are research studies that are carefully designed to answer specific questions concerning the safety and effectiveness of a drug, treatment, or diagnostic method, or to find ways to improve patients' quality of life.
Clinical trials allow researchers to find out how different patients respond to treatments while carefully monitoring the health and safety of the patients who volunteer.
All new medical treatments for asthma must go through the clinical trial process before they can be approved for sale or general use. For example research into the potential causes of asthma and related conditions could require lung function tests to look at differences between asthmatics and non asthmatics. Such studies require volunteers.
Clinical research must be approved by a research Ethics Committee before volunteers can be asked to participate. The success of clinical research, and the development of new treatments, is dependent on volunteer participation in these trials or studies.
On this page we display some asthma studies currently being conducted which require volunteer participants.
Please be aware that Asthma Foundation WA plays no role in these studies other than to provide a means of recruiting potential study participants. We cannot give any guarantees about the quality or the outcomes of the studies, and ask that any interested volunteers contact the researchers directly with questions they may have.
The Lung Institute of Western Australia is currently recruiting asthma participants to trial new asthma medications. Our current studies are ground-breaking treatments which are aimed to help improve the everyday lives of asthma sufferers.
To help recruit participants into the study we are seeking volunteers aged 18-75 years to please contact Meagan Shorten, 9346 4964, or email: admin@liwa.uwa.edu.au.
If you would like to know more about our trials and The Lung Institute of Western Australia please visit our website: www.liwa.uwa.edu.au.
Updated: 14/09/12
The Department of Pulmonary Physiology at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and the Department of Health
SCGH and the Department of Health are currently running a trial (placebo-controlled, double blinded), sponsored by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia, to see if using an antibiotic (azithromycin) reduces the frequency of exacerbations in patients with asthma that still have symptoms despite using "optimal" therapy. The study, called the AMAZES study is Australia wide.
To help recruit patients into the study we are seeking volunteers over 18 years of age to contact Ms Peta Grayson on 9346 2888 or email: peta.grayson@health.wa.gov.au.
Download flyer: New Asthma Treatment
Posted: 2/09/11
Respiratory Medicine at Princess Margaret Hospital and the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research
PMH and TICHR are continuing our research assessing lung function in young children aged 3 to 7 years. We currently have two studies running in this age group and both involve the measurement of lung function using the forced oscillation technique. This breathing test is easy for young children to complete and is helping us to better understand breathing problems in young children.
The first study involves the assessment of lung function pre and post Ventolin and examining the associations between the response to Ventolin and recent symptoms. The study involves children with asthma and also healthy controls with 3 visits over a 6 month period (start, 1 month and 6 months). To finish this study we need healthy children and children with moderate to severe asthma. If you know of any families that you think fit this description please tell them about the study or forward this email to them.
The second study has just commenced and is assessing the feasibility of an inhaled mannitol test in young children. The study involves healthy children as controls and children with a history of exercise induced symptoms in the past 12 months. If you know of any families that you think fits this description please tell them about the study or forward this email to them.
Our ability to continue our research and to help improve our understanding of asthma in young children relies on the generous assistance of Perth families. We would like to take this opportunity to thank those who have already helped us and look forward to completing these studies so as to be able to report our finding to the community as a whole.
Anyone interested in more information on the studied can contact Dr Afaf Albloushi on aalbloushi@meddent.uwa.edu.au or 9340 8121. These studies have received ethics approval from the Princess Margaret Hospital Ethics committee.
Posted: 30/6/11