Take Action in Medicine

What is the purpose of this study?

To prepare for longer space flights and possible missions to Mars, a group of international scientists at the space clinic MEDES are studying the possible medical problems that could occur during a flight. They have developed several ground-based experiments to simulate the effects of weightlessness in space in hopes of overcoming the human body's progressive weakening due to lack of gravity. Specifically, these studies will assess the consequences of a simulated long duration flight and the effectiveness of the applied countermeasures, preventive treatments like nutritional supplements and methods of rehabilitation like exercise programs.

How You Can Help: Human Studies

In order to obtain scientific conclusions, a large number of subjects are needed to participate in the studies. There is an upcoming 101-day study where subjects will lie on a tilted bed at 6 degrees below the horizontal position to simulate conditions in space. Subjects will remain in that position for the whole duration of 60-days, including when eating and washing. Movement is allowed so long as the position is maintained. In addition, each subject will be assigned to one of three groups: the control group that is not given any countermeasure-treatment, the group that participates in an exercise program, or the group that receives nutritional supplements.

Requirements:

To take part in this study, you must be a female between the ages of 25 and 40 years old and fluent in French and/or English. The volunteer must also be healthy, a regular exerciser, under 185 cm (around 6'1") in height, normal weight, and a non-smoker with no addiction to alcohol or any illegal drugs. In addition, the volunteer cannot be undergoing any medical treatment except for contraceptives. However, she must be willing to stop taking any contraceptive drugs at least 2 months before the start of the study. Since the experiment is being conducted by MEDES space clinic in Toulouse, France, the volunteer must be a citizen and residence of a country in the European Union, Norway or Switzerland. U.S. and Canadian citizens with permanent residence in one of the above countries may also apply. Lastly, she must comply with French law for biomedical research and be covered by some sort of social security plan. Applicants are currently needed for the September to December 2005 study. Volunteers will be paid a stipend after successful completion of the study.

Where to Begin:

Download an application at the MEDES clinic website, or request via email. Call for any information: +33 825 82 54 84 for international calls (0.20 €/min); 0 825 82 54 84 for calls from France (0.15 €/min)

What Is Female Infertility?

Every year, more than 6.1 million women struggle with infertility. Today, nearly 1 out of 6 couples are diagnosed with infertility after trying unsuccessfully for a year to become pregnant. Whether it is due to premature ovarian failure, diminished ovarian reserves, or genetically transmittable diseases, millions of women cannot fulfill their dreams of having a baby. Egg donation is one of the few precious ways to help these aspiring parents.

How You Can Help: Donate an Egg

Donating an egg is a relatively painless procedure that, if chosen, can be kept anonymous. There are several steps involved in the application process, and they include: qualification reviews, photographs, consent forms, selection and screening processes and fertility drugs and monitoring. Actual egg retrieval begins once doctors have determined that the donor's eggs have matured. An injection of HCG (Human chorionic gonadotropin) is administered to trigger ovulation. After 36 hours, the donor is given a mild sedation, and the egg is retrieved through transvaginal ultrasound. The procedure lasts approximately 30 minutes. Donors are usually compensated an honorarium ranging from $5,000 - $10, 000 for their time and effort.

Volunteer Requirements

Generally, a donor needs to be between the ages of 21 and 30. It is also very important that the donor leads a healthy lifestyle and does not smoke or have a history with drugs. It is often preferable that the donor has or is pursuing a college degree.

Where You Begin

There are hundreds of local clinics spread across the country, any of which can be found at http://www.ihr.com/infertility/provider/donoregg.html.

To register with NEEDS (National Exchange for Egg Donation and Surrogacy):
http://www.fertilityneeds.com/Registration/QualChecklist.asp?UserType=EggDonor

For more information about the application process and actual procedure:
http://www.fertilityneeds.com/ForDonors/BecomingDonor.asp

For more information about infertility:
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/infertility/whatisinfertility.html

What is Wigs For Kids?

Wigs For Kids is a non-profit organization that helps children suffering from hair loss keep those smiles on their faces! Whether a child has lost his or her hair due to medical treatments, a health condition, or a burn accident, Wigs for Kids has a perfect wig waiting for them!

How you can help: Donate your hair!

All you have to do is be willing! It's not necessary to have your hair cut at a salon, but you do need to follow the hair-cutting instructions at

Volunteer Requirements

Hair must be between 10 and 12 inches long and cannot be permed, color-treated, or highlighted. Curly hair must be pulled straight before measuring. The hair must also be clean, dry, and secured in a plastic bag.

Where you begin:

Print out the form on the Wigs For Kids website, fill it out, and mail it in along with your hair donation to:

Wigs For Kids
Executive Club Building
21330 Center Ridge Road
Rocky River, Ohio 44116

If you have any other questions, call Wigs For Kids at 440.333.4433.

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What Is The Eye Bank Association of America?

The EBAA is a nonprofit organization with 109 member eye banks in over 150 locations that has saved more than one million individuals from going blind. As the oldest transplant association in the United States, the EBAA performs more than 42,000 sight-restoring transplants a year. While seeking the highest quality eye tissue, the EBAA also maintains extremely high safety standards for proficient eye tissue procurement, preservation, storage and transplantation. Members of the EBAA include well-qualified ophthalmologists, corneal surgeons, and researchers.

How You Can Help

Fill out a donor card specifying eye tissue donation. Work as an eye surgeon, administrator, or eye bank certified technician.

Where You Begin

For more information about EBAA:
See http://www.restoresight.org/ or email info@restoresight.org
To locate an EBAA eye bank near you:
See http://www.restoresight.org/eye_banks/eye_banks.htm
Link to a printable donor card:
http://www.restoresight.org/donor.htm

What is Malaria?

Malaria is the biggest single infectious killer of children in the world, causing 2 to 3 million deaths per year. Malaria is caused by the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito that is infected by the Plasmodium parasite. A prestigious research group of 17 qualified scientists and professors lead by Professor Adrian Hill of the University of Oxford have taken it upon themselves to come up with effective vaccines for malaria in order to eradicate this rapidly encroaching killer. But they need your help.

How You Can Help: Human Clinical Trials

In order to test the existing vaccines, the research group must perform human clinical trials. First, they inject volunteers with two vaccines, one to "prime" the immune system and the next to "boost" the immune response system. Then volunteers are injected with a fully drug-safe strain of malaria called falciparum malaria. The strain used is a laboratory strain and is 100% curable. After these volunteers are exposed to the disease, they are kept under close watch, visiting the clinic twice a day. Every day, the clinic takes a blood sample from each volunteer and tests it for malaria. The moment any trace of malaria is detected, the volunteer is immediately treated with the anti-malarial and 100% effective drug chloroquine. The purpose of these trials is to discover whether the vaccinations that the volunteers receive provide partial or complete protection against malaria. The information that the research group gains from each patient is very precious and may help to prevent millions of deaths each year.

Volunteer Requirements

To take part in this study, you must be between the ages of 18 and 45 years and have never contracted malaria before. You must live in the Oxford area, and all volunteers are compensated for the time and traveling expenses. With your bravery, millions of children can be saved from malaria.

Where You Begin

Visit http://www.malaria-vaccines.org.uk/10.shtml
or e-mail: malaria@well.ox.ac.uk

What is AIDS Vaccination?

In 2004, 5 million people became infected and 3 million people were killed by the AIDS virus world wide, which brought the total number of people who carried HIV to 40 million. Since the first case of AIDS was identified in 1981, there have been 20 million people who have been killed by AIDS. Each day, more than 14,000 of men, women and children get infected during the reproductive years of their lives.

The development of an effective AIDS vaccine remains the best way to stop this relentless epidemic. Over 20 years, the question "When will we have the vaccine?" remains unanswered.

How You Can Help: Human Clinical Trials

In order to create a successful vaccine for AIDS we have to know the immunology of our body against the disease. There are two kinds of disease-specify immunity for AIDS: Humeral Immunity and Cellular Immunity. It is believed that both types of immunities are needed to develop an HIV vaccine. Humeral Immunity involves the immune system making antibodies that recognize the HIV pathogen and blocking it before it has the chance to infect the body T cells. Cellular Immunity's role is to recognize and destroy cells that have been infected with HIV to ensure that the virus will not multiply and spread to other cells.

While most HIV vaccines stimulate at least some cellular immunity, they have not been successful in completely inducing antibodies that are effective in neutralizing the effect of HIV. Therefore, the need for having clinical trials to study AIDS vaccine is crucial. Clinical trails for AIDS vaccine are conducted in 3 sequential phases. Phase 1 trials involve several dozen volunteers at low risk of HIV infection with focus on safety issues to test for different vaccines and immunology schedules. Phase 2 trials enroll several hundreds of volunteers, often with those of high risk of infection to gather both safety and immunogenic data. Phase 3 trials enroll several thousands of volunteers to determine statically whether the vaccine works.

Volunteer Requirements

The clinical trial encourages people of all ages and genders to participate in the vaccine studies. However, adolescents are required to have guardians' permission and their participations in order to join the study. Many states in the U.S have local vaccine trials for volunteer to participate. Your participation in the study will help us to find a cure to fight this relentless epidemic.

Where You Begin

http://www.aidsvaccine.org/findvaccinetrial.htm