[From Nebuchadnezzar to the randomized controlled trial--milestones in the development of clinical research]

The first clinical experiment is described in the bible: The prophet Daniel is reported being nourished during ten days by seeds and water only, in order to check if his physical state would deteriorate as a result of this minimal nutrition. In the 15th century, French surgeon Ambroise Parí experimented with a mixture of turpentine, egg protein and rose oil to treat combat wounds, which is thought to be the first clinical study to be reported. In the 19th century British scientist James Lind designed the first controlled prospective study with parallel groups, proving that ingesting citrus fruit prevents scurvy. A short time afterwards British scientist John Haygarth was the first to use a placebo drug in a clinical study. Important work on placebo was conducted by the American scientists Austin Flint and later by Henry K. Beecher, who showed that placebo itself has biological properties. The importance of comparative studies was first understood by French psychologist CLaude Bernard. He is considered the founder of the modern scientific method based on observation, analysis of data and examination of hypotheses. Bernard's work was based on the work of fellow Frenchman Pierre Charles Alexandre Louis, who is justly considered a founding father of modern epidemiology, and who was the first to use statistics in clinical experiments. Random distributions in clinical studies were reported even before this time, for instance in the work of the Flemish physician Johannes Baptista van Helmont. Danish Nobel prize winner Johannes Fibiger pioneered the use of selection bias in his work with diphtheria serum.