Jane
“I wholeheartedly support clinical research. I wouldn’t be here enjoying an active life if it wasn’t for health research.”
Jane Owen, retired physiotherapist and Research Champion
We are here to help you find out about health and social care research that is taking place across the UK.
“I wholeheartedly support clinical research. I wouldn’t be here enjoying an active life if it wasn’t for health research.”
Jane Owen, retired physiotherapist and Research Champion
“Unless we try things out we’d never get to know what would work”.
Stephen Burgess, rare cancer trial participant.
“Harry was well looked after, carefully monitored, and we felt supported by the staff every step of the way.”
Stephanie George and Lee Murdoch whose newborn son Harry took part in a study.
Sign up to this free course, where, over the course of three weeks, you can learn about different types of research. Find out what questions to ask, what to expect when you volunteer and hear stories from people who've taken part and what they've gained from their experience.
Do something worthwhile to support this men's health campaign by taking part in research. Find studies on this site focussed on prostate cancer, testicular cancer and male health. You can also search for studies for mental health and specific health conditions and then filter accordingly.
Find out about all the research studies on this site that are investigating diabetes. Connect with leading diabetes research charities, NIHR specialist support and read stories from members of the public who've taken part in diabetes research.
“Once-a-month oral contraceptive pill in tests,” reports BBC News on early research by a team in the US.
Non-smokers and people who stop smoking after being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis are unlikely to have more flare-ups or other signs of worsening disease, compared with those who continue to smoke. Smoking is linked to reduced rates of developing ulcerative colitis in some studies. Some patients also believe that smoking can also lessen the symptoms of the disease, although previous research about this has had conflicting results. This study indicates that smoking does not have a significant effect on the illness after diagnosis. Researchers followed 6,754 UK adults diagnosed with ulcerative colitis for 12 years. They compared outcomes for former smokers, non-smokers and smokers, and for people who stopped smoking after diagnosis. After adjusting for other factors, they found similar rates of corticosteroid use, flare-ups, hospital admissions and colectomy (surgical removal of all or part of the large bowel), regardless of smoking status. People with ulcerative colitis can be encouraged to stop smoking, for the usual health-related reasons.
Both the use of a patch or atropine eye drops are equally suitable methods for improving clarity of vision (visual acuity) in children and young adults with amblyopia (a “lazy eye”). Amblyopia is a cause of poor vision in childhood that usually affects only one eye, resulting in the individual relying more on the good eye. The standard methods of treatment involve training the weaker eye and promoting its use by covering the strong eye with a patch, or eye drops to blur the vision in the good eye. This NIHR-funded systematic review evaluated seven trials comparing 1,177 children treated with one of the methods. The findings reinforce existing knowledge that both forms of treatment are similarly effective and that the choice of method is down to child and parental preferences.