View clinical trials related to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
Filter by:The purpose of this study is to see if escitalopram (Lexapro) improves symptoms of major depressive disorder in patients who have ALS or MS.
Specific aims: Aim 1. To determine the incidence of hypoventilation in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) patients. Aim 2. To identify the clinical characteristics and risk factors associated . Aim 3. To determine the effect of early intervention with nocturnal NIV on the prognosis of ALS patients.
The purpose of this pilot study is to characterize changes in postural orientation and equilibrium in early diagnosed ALS patient. The investigators plan to cross validate the use of a standardized test of equilibrium (EquiTest, Computerized Dynamic Posturography - CDP) in early diagnosed ALS patients.
The purpose of this study is to find out if supervised exercise training using a treadmill with partial weight support is safe and has an impact on gait and function of persons with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
This is an open-label, multi-center study designed to extend the evaluation of the safety, tolerability, and clinical effects of oral administration of KNS-760704 in patients with ALS.
The purpose of the study is to determine whether lithium is safe and effective in the treatment of ALS
The purpose of the study is to determine the safety and the efficacy of Tretinoin and Pioglitazone HCL in patients with ALS who are currently on Riluzole.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease affecting motoneurons, with a prevalence around 5/100.000. Respiratory muscle involvement is a major feature in ALS and remains the main prognostic factor. Timing and rate of progression of this respiratory muscle involvement is also highly variable among individuals. Respiratory manifestations justify a careful follow up including clinical evaluation, pulmonary function tests and blood gases. Prognostic value of respiratory muscle assessment has been clearly demonstrated in ALS, although several cut off values have been published. The clinical benefit of non invasive ventilation (NIV) is well established in ALS, but the optimal criteria for its initiation remain debated . The 1999 consensus for NIV selected classical criteria to consider NIV in patients with respiratory symptoms suggesting hypoventilation: daytime hypercapnia (PaCO2 > 45 mmHg), nocturnal SaO2 < 89 % more than 5 consecutive minutes and for progressive neuromuscular disorders (NMD) (mainly ALS), a vital capacity (VC) < 50 % pred or a PImax < 60 cmH2O. Besides daytime clinical and PFT assessment, nocturnal evaluation is essential in ALS. The prevalence of sleep apnea ranges from 16 % to 76 %. Transcutaneous PCO2 (tcPCO2) is an attractive technique to evaluate non invasively nocturnal hypoventilation. The technique is well validated in different settings. Its use in neuromuscular disorders (NMD) is recent. In particular one study has demonstrated a high predictive value of tcPCO2 for the development of daytime hypoventilation within 1 year. To our knowledge, this technique has not been specifically assessed in ALS. There is a potential role for nocturnal PtcCO2 monitoring in the close follow up of ALS patients. Indeed, a close respiratory follow up of ALS patients is essential to determine the optimal timing of NIV, avoiding the occurence of unexpected acute respiratory failure.
The preclinical rationale for tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) use in treating patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) stems from the demonstration of antioxidant, antiapoptotic and neuroprotective properties of TUDCA in the central nervous system (CNS), both in vitro and in vivo models. This protocol is meant for assessing if the addition of TUDCA to the conventional therapy can improve the therapeutic outcome in patients affected by ALS. Safety will be assessed for all subjects, for the entire duration of the study. 30 patients affected by ALS with site of onset in the limbs will be recruited. All enrolled subjects will continue receiving riluzole at the same regimen as before entering the trial. Based on an appropriate random code, subjects will be divided into two groups of equal size treated, after a lead-in period of 3 months, by oral route with TUDCA at the dose 2 g daily for 1 year or with identical placebo by oral route at the same dosing schedule, under double-blind conditions. Every concomitant and/or supportive therapy will be admitted. Evaluation criteria: Efficacy. The proportion of responder patients in the two treatment groups was the primary outcome measure of the study. Responder patients were defined as those subjects showing an improvement of at least 15% in the ALSFRS-R (2) slope during the treatment period as compared to the lead-in period. This threshold was chosen based according to the consensus conference on designing and implementing clinical trials in ALS (3). Other parameters will include ALSFRS-R at study end, FVC%, the SF-36 quality of life rating scale, time to tracheotomy from starting of study medication dosing (if appropriate), survival Time from starting of study medication dosing (if appropriate), Medical Research Council scores for right and left muscle groups. Safety. Incidence, severity and type of adverse events; changes in clinical laboratory findings.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is an adult neurodegenerative disease that is caused by a selective degeneration of the motor nerve cells in the cortex and myelon. As a result of motor neurodegeneration, a progredient paralysis of the extremities and of the speaking, swallowing, and breathing musculature develops. ALS leads to death by respiratory insufficiency in a mean course of 3-5 years. More than 80% of ALS patients present with a clinically significant and undesirable weight loss. The cause of weight loss is heterogeneous. Fundamentally, the investigators must distinguish malnutrition, cachexia and loss of appetite. Loss of weight is an independent prognosis factor in ALS. Effective treatment of undesirable weight loss is an important therapy goal for ALS. The researchers propose an investigational therapy of ALS with oral administration of Olanzapine. The rationale for this study is based on the weight-increasing effect of OLN. The clinical trial aims to employ OLN-induced weight gain or weight stabilization as a symptomatic therapy for the loss of appetite. An undesired weight loss of at least 10% of the body weight should be reduced through the weight-increasing effect of OLN. The hypothesis states that the undesired weight loss in ALS patients during treatment with OLN 10mg in combination with Riluzole (RIL) 100mg is at least 20 percentage points less than for treatment with placebo in combination with 100 mg RIL.