The Department of Veterans Affairs
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The Department of Veterans Affairs |
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Overview of the COPD Research Project
The VA is reaching out to veterans for a research project to evaluate the performance of a medication that may improve breathing in patients like myself.
- 2 to 3 visits to the San Francisco VA Medical Center over a period of 3 to 4 weeks. (three hours per visit)
- Receiving an investigational drug - Indacaterol/Glycopyrrolate or a Placebo taken twice a day for 3 months.
- Smoking Cessation if still smoking.
- Informed Consent Form asking if you want to participate in the project.
- Authorization for Release of Protected Health Information (HIPAA) form for Research.
At each visit you will complete several symptoms questionnaires about your health, current medications, smoking status, and respiratory sumptoms such as (coughing or shortness of breath) and undergo a series of breathing tests to measure your lung function.
The total compensation for completing this research study is between $450 and $500 depending on the number of visits.
Please contact us at 415.221.4810 Ext: 46594
Remember that participating in research is voluntary and this study will not replace or interrupt your regular clinical care.
September 26th Thurday - Initial Interview by Dr. ArjomandiToday I was able to converse with Dr. Arjomandi and she asked me the critical questions to see if I qualified for the research project. She said I did qualify and since I have an appointment with neurology on October 4th, Thursday at 2:30 p.m., I should come in around 10:00 a.m. as the initial overview of the study will take three hours. I wonder if I will get the medicine I will take for three months the first day I am interviewed. As usual, some will have the actual medication and some will have a Placebo.
Initial letter from the SF VAMC Pulmonary Research Group for the first appointment for the project.
Redefining Thearapy in early COPD (RETHINC)
Initial Meeting - October 3rd, 2019 - Testing and Interviews to Qualify for the Project
I had my vitals taken and then met the doctor in charge of the research project, Dr. Arjumandi. He questioned me and checked my lungs, throat and so on and said I qualified for the project!
I will take a specilized inhaler product twice a day and keep a record of the intake every day for three months. $20.00 a week for 13 weeks plus around $80.00 for each meeting such as the one today, three hours. At week 13 I will then do four hours of testing to finalize the project! Each pouch has a capsule with powder in them. They are very small. One is placed in the inhaler and buttons on the side cut a hole into the capsule. You then suck in the powder, you hear a rattle of the capsule and then hold for five or more seconds. You can verify that all the powder was inhaled when taking the capsule out of the inhaler. If some is still in it, redo to make sure all the medication is taken! Easy to use!
Melissa said she would send me a PDF showing how I did on the lung capacity tests! They will follow when she sends them to me!
Another doctor came in and checked my lungs and heart and said I was in great shape. My blood pressure was 120 over 70, even with two white doctor's gowns on them! Nervous, me?
Melissa met me at ten a.m. and we started the three hour testing and interview. I didn't realize the test was to determine if I still had
ashma symptoms. I did have a bad attach of ashma three years ago. I filled out mulitple papers and signed them and then I had to take two sets of tests (each set consisted of five tests) of my abitlity to breath and my lung capacity. They actually wanted people without ashma. I wondered about how I would do. The first set of testing was straight forward. After testing the lung capacity I took two different types of inhalers, one opened specific arias of the lung functions and the second another type of lung function. It seemed I passed all the test with flying colors.
This is the Daily Diary I have to keep for the 13 weeks. I will be paid $20.00 for each week I take the medication and log it onto the diary.
After 13 weeks I ended the COPD project by going to the VA and spending four hours having my lung capacity tested in relation to three months ago and answering questions. I had to do testing every hour for four hours. Each hour I had to plug my nose and then do deep breating and then pushing out as much air as possible!
The chart documents how much air I was able to breath in and then exhale.
And I get $420.00 for this research project! Not too bad for the little work I had to do!
Created on: 2019.09.20
Updated on: 2019.12.21