The World's First Scientific Clinical Research

The first physician-conducted clinical trial was in 1747.

Picture: Portrait of James Lind.
Credit: RCPE Heritage

The world's first scientific clinical research was conducted by James Lind, the chief physician of Royal Naval Hospital Haslar at Gosport. In the middle of the 18th century, he proved that herbs and citrus fruits could prevent scurvy development.

International Clinical Research Day is celebrated on May 20. This holiday was first celebrated in 2005 on the proposal of the European Clinical Research Infrastructures Network, the non-profit organization aimed at promoting international clinical trials in Europe.

International Day for Clinical Research was established to raise public awareness of the importance of clinical research and commemorate the first documented study in 1747 by Scottish naval physician James Lind on board of HMS Salisbury ship. James Lind compared the effects of six different products in 12 sailors with scurvy.

All sailors had the same symptoms, including bleeding gums, rash, and weakness. They were accommodated in one part of the ship. Their basic diet was the same. Lind believed that the body's putrefaction was the cause of scurvy and that it could be stopped with acids. Therefore, he decided to add sour foods into the diet of sailors. He divided the sailors into six groups of two people each. The sailors in group 1 were given cider, group 2 - diluted sulfuric acid, group 3 - seawater, group 4- vinegar, group 5 - a mixture of spices, group 6 - two oranges, and lemon. Treatment of patients receiving oranges and lemons had to be stopped after six days as the fruit ran out. However, six days was enough for one sailor to recover completely and return to work, and the health of the second improved so much that he could take care of the rest of the sick.

James Lind published the experiment results in 1753 in his work "A Treatise of the Scurvy," where he proposed to use citrus fruits to prevent the disease.