So, Logan and I had an adventure this week. One of our friends works at an eye clinic and informed us that the clinic was involved in a medical study and was looking for volunteers. Logan went to see if he qualified to join the study on Tues, and I went yesterday.
After putting my name and the date on several different forms, I read through a very detailed description of the study and what they would want me to do if I qualified. My brain was split between trying to figure out if I even wanted to be a test subject and analyzing the study to determine if was put together well. My lab nerd got a little excited ......
Turns out the study was the third stage trial for a newish allergy drug and form of application. The drug has already been approved by the FDA and is on the market and the form of application is already in use with other drugs, but this study was trying to determine if the drug and the application work well together. Fair enough.
The part that made us a little squeamish was that the form of application was a "punctum plug" - a tiny tube-like structure that they place inside the tear duct. My guess is that allergens make one's eyes water causing tears to drain down the tear duct, except it will pick up some of the medication in the punctum plug and the medication will reduce the severity of the allergic reaction (they didn't actually give the overview in the literature, but it makes sense from it did say).
After reading all about the study, I got an allergy test! They tested for 13 of the most common allergies by putting a bit of liquid containing the allergen on the tip of a little plastic tool and then jabbing the tool into my skin. The tip of the tool was actually a little inverted well, and the edges of the well were sharpened into six points. The liquid is sucked up into the well via capillary action and then forced into the skin with a little bit of pressure and a twisting motion. The shape points puncture the skin, forcing the body to respond and allowing the allergen access to soft tissues. I thought it was genius design.
The nurse wrote numbers on the underside of my forearm and then applied an allergen next to each number. One of the applications was just salt water (as the control) and it stung :P
After twenty minutes, the nurse checked to see if I had an allergic reaction to any of the allergens. She need me to be allergic to one plant and one animal in order for me to be eligible to enter the study. Turns out I was only allergic to dust mites.
Oh well.
