View clinical trials related to Alzheimer's Disease.
Filter by:This study will create Alzheimer 's disease risk profiles for defined combinations of genotypes and environmental exposures. This study will carry out a molecular epidemiologic study to identify genetic and environmental risks factors using state of the art techniques. The following will be done during the course of this study 1) Recruit both Alzheimer's patients and cognitively normal aged veterans. 2) Evaluate gene interaction in Alzheimer's disease. 3) Evaluate gene-environment interactions on the risk of Alzheimer's disease. These procedures should initially address the question as to whether certain genes either independently or synergistically modify the risk of Alzheimer's disease. This study will also determine whether certain environmental factors (smoking, alcohol consumption etc.) can modify the risk of AD and whether this effect is dependent on certain genetic backgrounds. This study will provide information that will be useful in designing therapies, develop risk factor profiles to be further tested in future studies, designating patients for specific therapies based on genetic factors and providing data and genetic material for future studies. This study will also provide a cohort of older and well characterized cognitively normal veterans for prospective genetic epidemiological studies on aging.
This study is designed to evaluate the potential beneficial effects of estrogen on cognitive function of women with Alzheimer's Disease.
This study is aimed at investigating specific pharmacological interventions in the treatment of the disruptive, agitated behavior associated with Alzheimer's patients. In addition, it is hoped that specific clinical profiles will be found to predict which treatment is most effective for these particular patients.
The CATIE Alzheimer's Disease Trial is part of the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) Project. The study is for people with Alzheimer's disease who are having trouble with their thinking or behavior. In particular, this study is trying to find out the best treatment for people who have hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that aren't there), delusions (false beliefs), or agitation. The design of the trial helps to increase the chance that participants in the study receive a medication that helps them. The study uses three medications known as atypical antipsychotics (olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone), which are the newest medications that are currently available for treating these problems. Participants may also receive an antidepressant (citalopram). The trial lasts for 36 weeks. Participants are given a thorough evaluation at no cost to ensure that this study is appropriate. In addition, the caregiver, family member, or friend who comes with the participant will be offered an educational program about Alzheimer's disease.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of the drug cyclophosphamide (CY) on inflammation and immune responses in individuals with Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Inflammation and immunologic response appear to contribute to neurodegeneration in people with AD. In a process called gliosis, the brain immune cells microglia and astroglia undergo activation and possible proliferation, which promotes neuronal injury and death. Activated microglia and astroglia produce compounds that are cytotoxic to neurons, and they express molecules that greatly amplify immune and inflammatory processes in the brain. Excessive glial activation and proliferation are thought to be pivotal events that hasten the demise of synapses and neurons in AD. Fortunately, increased understanding of immune and inflammatory pathology in AD has provided new opportunities for designing disease-altering treatments for AD. Studies suggest that medications such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and immunomodulatory agents may have an important role in altering the course of AD. CY is a potent anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory drug that inhibits proliferation of immune cells. This study will evaluate the effects of CY on individuals with mild to moderate AD. Participants in this study will be randomly assigned to receive either two different doses of CY or placebo (an inactive pill) for 6 months. Participants who receive placebo during the 6 months will have the option of receiving CY for an additional 6 months. Participants will undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brain. Measures of cerebral spinal fluid biomarkers or neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation, and neuroimmune activation will be taken. In addition, peripheral lymphocyte subsets and peripheral markers of inflammation will be assessed.
Sleep-activity rhythm disturbance is a prevalent, disabling symptom in cognitively-impaired (CI) elders. Their nocturnal sleep is light and inefficient with frequent awakenings. Multiple short daytime napping episodes interfere with daytime activity and functioning. Daytime disruptive behaviors, such as pacing, hitting, and cursing are related significantly to sleep-activity rhythm disturbance. Medical treatment for sleep and behavior disturbances with benzodiazepines or antipsychotic medications has proven minimally effective and has serious side effects such as impairments in cognition, memory, coordination, and balance, tolerance and severe rebound insomnia, and tardive dyskinesia.
This study evaluates the effectiveness of a nurse-managed interdisciplinary (nursing and occupational therapy) clinic serving community dwelling dementia patients and their spouse caregivers. It is grounded in a nursing self-care model that guides nurses to identify interventions that fit with the capabilities of individual patients and compensate for their specific deficits. The occupational therapy assessment uses the Allen Cognitive Levels that identify the abilities and deficits of a particular functional level so that the strategies and approaches taught to caregivers can be tailored to the specific needs of the patient.
This study will determine the effect of 240mg/day Ginkgo biloba in decreasing the incidence of dementia and specifically Alzheimer's disease (AD), slowing cognitive decline and functional disability, reducing incidence of cardiovascular disease, and decreasing total mortality.
The optimal strategy for the treatment of behavioral complications in patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains unclear. The objective of this study is to evaluate the risk of relapse following discontinuation of haloperidol in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) with psychosis or agitation who respond to it. In Phase A of this study, AD outpatients with behavioral complications receive 20 weeks of open haloperidol treatment with an oral dose of 1-5 mg daily, titrated individually to achieve the optimal trade-off between efficacy and side effects. Responders to Phase A participate in Phase B, a 24-week continuation trial in which patients are randomized to continuation haloperidol or placebo. The primary outcome is the time to relapse of psychosis or behavioral disturbance.
This study will examine whether enhancing the chemical acetylcholine in the brain can improve memory and attention. It will identify changes in brain function that occur during these cognitive tasks. Animal and human studies have shown that a decrease in acetylcholine may be responsible for some of the cognition deficits in Alzheimer's disease. Conversely, patients taking medications that slow the breakdown of this neurotransmitter have experienced improvements in memory. Normal volunteers and patients with Alzheimer's disease may be eligible for this study of functional brain imaging using positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These techniques can measure brain activity and identify brain regions involved in memory and attention. Candidates for this study will be screened with a medical and psychiatric history and a physical examination including blood tests, urinalysis, chest X-ray, and electrocardiogram (ECG). Those enrolled will perform memory and attention tasks during PET and MRI studies. The cognition tasks will be repeated twice-once during infusion of saline (a fluid with no drug effect) through a catheter inserted into a blood vessel and again during infusion of physostigmine, a drug that delays the breakdown of acetylcholine. The PET procedure will be completed in one day; the MRI procedure will be done on two different days. During imaging, attention and memory tasks will be presented in short blocks of about 4-minutes duration. They will be repeated in sequence up to 10 times with a few minutes separation. Subjects will be shown pictures of faces or other visual stimuli and asked to decide whether the pictures are the same or different. Information gained from this study may increase knowledge about how acetylcholine affects the brain's response to memory and attention tasks and perhaps lead to better treatments for the cognitive deficits in Alzheimer's disease.