Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tales of the Guinea Pig
Penn State is a research one institution, which means the university receives a lot of money to complete research on a variety of topics and the results are top notch and often cited and reported nationwide. I have always thought it would be fun to be a test subject in one of the studies (one that wouldn't have adverse effects mind you!). Calls for participants for current studies are regularly published in the Penn State Faculty/Staff Newswire but I haven't ever qualified for one before. Either I was too old or too young most of the time.
In February, I saw a call for participants in a study on body inflammation that would result in eating a daily snack that was provided as part of the study. I met all of the pre-qualifications so I signed up. I received a call from the researcher to answer some preliminary questions. The first question..."Do you like chocolate?". It was a study on the effects of dark chocolate on inflammation. I would have to eat dark chocolate every day for six weeks. Yuck!
A week or so later, there was a call for volunteers to participate in a whole grain study. I met the pre-qualifications for a second study! I signed up and went in for preliminary blood work and testing and found out that I definitely was qualified to participate in the study. Then I got sick and could not start the study because of the antibiotics I was taking. I thought I wouldn't be able to participate but we waited a couple weeks after I finished the antibiotics and I was able to start the study.
This week, I had to participate in two days of blood draws and testing. They measured my resting metabolic rate by having me breathe into a plastic mask for 15 minutes. I had to have a body scan that measured my body composition (bone mass, fat percentage, etc) and I had a test that measured my blood flow. I also had to collect all of my urine for 12 hours. I will get all of the results from the tests. I already received the results from the preliminary blood tests and have good numbers for everything except that I have borderline high blood sugar and my good cholesterol is low. It was very interesting to see all of the data.
I start feeding tomorrow and will keep you updated with regular posts.
In February, I saw a call for participants in a study on body inflammation that would result in eating a daily snack that was provided as part of the study. I met all of the pre-qualifications so I signed up. I received a call from the researcher to answer some preliminary questions. The first question..."Do you like chocolate?". It was a study on the effects of dark chocolate on inflammation. I would have to eat dark chocolate every day for six weeks. Yuck!
A week or so later, there was a call for volunteers to participate in a whole grain study. I met the pre-qualifications for a second study! I signed up and went in for preliminary blood work and testing and found out that I definitely was qualified to participate in the study. Then I got sick and could not start the study because of the antibiotics I was taking. I thought I wouldn't be able to participate but we waited a couple weeks after I finished the antibiotics and I was able to start the study.
This week, I had to participate in two days of blood draws and testing. They measured my resting metabolic rate by having me breathe into a plastic mask for 15 minutes. I had to have a body scan that measured my body composition (bone mass, fat percentage, etc) and I had a test that measured my blood flow. I also had to collect all of my urine for 12 hours. I will get all of the results from the tests. I already received the results from the preliminary blood tests and have good numbers for everything except that I have borderline high blood sugar and my good cholesterol is low. It was very interesting to see all of the data.
I start feeding tomorrow and will keep you updated with regular posts.
# posted by Tracy @ 7:27 PM 
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