British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline recently announced the launch of a new clinical study, Patient Rheumatoid Arthritis Data from the Real World (PARADE), which will gather medical data and patient feedback using an iOS app powered by Apple's ResearchKit. Notably, GSK is the first major pharmaceutical company to implement ResearchKit into its research, which it hopes assists in lessening "the burden of patients in clinical studies by reducing the frequency of doctor visits."

GSK PARADE app
The company noted that while it's "not testing a medicine right now," ResearchKit is helping put it on the path of a medicinal development process -- centered mainly around rheumatoid arthritis -- thanks to the insight and health goals of each patient that Apple's research framework provides. Through surveys and the sensors on an iPhone, the GSK PARADE app gathers info on symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, including joint pain, fatigue, and mood.

"Our goal is to engage with patients in a new way that integrates the research into their daily lives versus the traditional model that requires patients to travel to their doctors’ offices," said Rob DiCicco, Vice President of Clinical Innovation at GSK. "By making research as easy and accessible as possible for patients, we have the potential to disrupt the model for how we conduct research in the future and ultimately improve patient health."

The current goal is to track the activity and "quality of life measures" of 300 patients over a 3-month period using GSK's app. On the patient side of things, users will be able to access a dashboard which shows their own personal recordings and data from the study that they can easily share with their own healthcare providers to further investigate into more effective treatment and recovery plans.

GSK encourages anyone 21 years or older to participate in the ResearchKit-enabled trial by downloading the GSK PARADE app for free on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Top Rated Comments

2457282 Avatar
114 months ago
Happy you're in better health without the meds. You're 100% right about big pharma. Reminds me of the old big pharma meme: Ain't no money curing diseases. Maintenance is where the money is. Cynical, yes. True, unfortunately also yes.

Integrative doctor... is that similar to homeopathic?
No. An integrative doctor is someone who uses all possible option in an integrative way. In my case, it meant doing significant genetic and blood testing (modern technical approach) and then using the results to address the underlying problems through alternative approaches (diet modification, supplement augmentation, yoga, acupuncture, bio feedback, meditation, etc). The basic principle is that you need to treat the entire body not just the symptoms.

In my case, the arthritis was caused by inflammation (probably true for many forms of arthritis). So figuring out the inflammatory triggers, and modifying my diet and supplements to maintain an anti-inflammatory lifestyle was the key. The genetic test also found a gene anomaly that was underlying the inflammation. When I started down this approach i had a hard time standing for more than 5 minutes. Today I am averaging about 5 miles a day (10k steps). And there are zero collateral issues (typical with arthritis medication includes liver, heart, and immune system issues).

For me it has been a 3 year journey to figure this all out with the integrative doctor. That is why I say that if these researchkit apps focused on getting more clear on the lifestyle issues, I think it could add a lot to society. I am lucky to have sufficient income and generous insurance that allowed me to take this journey. But very few are able and are relegated to maintenance drugs from mediocre doctors that really don't help.

Small disclaimer, I am not totally against Pharma. There are drugs that clearly do help in specific situations and have been a positive contribution to our society. I am mostly against the medicate first culture. I just wish we would spend more time looking at and addressing the true issues instead of medicating the symptoms and not dealing with the real issues until its too late.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
2457282 Avatar
114 months ago
I think this is positive to a point. My mother suffers from RA, and its pretty bad for her. I have a different type of Arthritis, but understand the pain. My overall observation of going down the medical route is that the medicine tends to fix one thing but break something else. In my case, the vioxx that was prescribed ended up affecting my heart. in my mother's case, she takes tons of medication and has gotten worse not just in RA but collateral areas. What would be awesome is if they did more integrative testing to see what other influencers affect a disease like RA. Dietary, environmental, stress, exercise, etc. Unfortunately, pharmaceuticals are motivated to find only drug solution.

In my case, after the heart scare, I found an integrative doctor and have had to make some radical changes around what I eat and drink, as well as my physical activity. Today, I am happy to say (but I doubt GSK is) that I do not take any prescription medication and have most of my arthritis in remission.

If these ResearchKit Apps would help in discovering which life changes would impact positively on a disease, I would be all in. But I am skeptical of where these app are headed - more drugs they can make money from, regardless of them actually helping.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
114 months ago
I think this is positive to a point. My mother suffers from RA, and its pretty bad for her. I have a different type of Arthritis, but understand the pain. My overall observation of going down the medical route is that the medicine tends to fix one thing but break something else. In my case, the vioxx that was prescribed ended up affecting my heart. in my mother's case, she takes tons of medication and has gotten worse not just in RA but collateral areas. What would be awesome is if they did more integrative testing to see what other influencers affect a disease like RA. Dietary, environmental, stress, exercise, etc. Unfortunately, pharmaceuticals are motivated to find only drug solution.

In my case, after the heart scare, I found an integrative doctor and have had to make some radical changes around what I eat and drink, as well as my physical activity. Today, I am happy to say (but I doubt GSK is) that I do not take any prescription medication and have most of my arthritis in remission.

If these ResearchKit Apps would help in discovering which life changes would impact positively on a disease, I would be all in. But I am skeptical of where these app are headed - more drugs they can make money from, regardless of them actually helping.
Happy you're in better health without the meds. You're 100% right about big pharma. Reminds me of the old big pharma meme: Ain't no money curing diseases. Maintenance is where the money is. Cynical, yes. True, unfortunately also yes.

Integrative doctor... is that similar to homeopathic?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...