CLEVELAND — In January of 2022, Cleveland Clinic launched a landmark study to better understand why millions of people around the world suffer from brain diseases, with the goal of pinpointing disease biomarkers early, well before clinical symptoms present themselves.
The largest clinical study ever for brain disease and will collect data from up to 200,000 neurologically healthy individuals over a 20-year period to identify brain disease biomarkers and targets for preventing and curing neurological disorders.
However, the most challenging effort during this study is the recruitment of a more diverse range of participants. According to the NIH, research that includes a diverse range of participants, including Black people, can lead to better results that benefit all communities.
Diverse participation can help reduce biases, promote health equity and social justice, and produce more innovative science. A recent report indicates that minorities represent almost 30% of those enrolled in clinical trials sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and that African Americans now make up approximately 15% of those minority participants.
One in every six people around the globe has a neurological disease such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke or epilepsy.
Rod Reed, of Mentor, Rod of Mentor is a counselor for people with addiction and is a recovering from a substance use disorder. He was fascinated by the research and felt it was a great opportunity to get involved, check his own health and help others.
He runs his own agency in Euclid called Better Way to Live and is passionate about helping others. He believes participating in the study is not only a great way to "pay it forward" and help others, but it's a great way to keep tabs on your own health.
He says the checkups are non invasive, thorough and simple.
"You get to know about your health, you don't have to worry about, do I have the insurance to pay for it or am I going to get a hospital bill? And now for the next 20 years, you got people checking in on you every other year, making sure you're okay. Why wouldn't I want to do that? Because ignorance is not bliss. To have something going on inside of your body and not know about it until it takes you out or cripples you for the rest of your life, I don't want to sit in a wheelchair like a vegetable when they could have found that thing at earlier, so why wouldn't I want to be a part of this?" Rod said.
To learn more or apply for the study click HERE.