There are more than 498,563 clinical trials published worldwide with over 60,000 trials that are currently either recruiting or not yet recruiting. Use our filters on this page to find more information on current clinical trials or past clinical trials (free or paid) for study purposes and read about their results.
The purpose of this study is to see if giving HIV-positive patients an HIV vaccine plus anti-HIV drugs can help lower HIV levels in the blood (viral load).
The purpose of this study is to see how effective 2 drugs, irbesartan and pravastatin, are at slowing kidney transplant failure. Many kidney transplant patients have some type of chronic rejection. Chronic rejection is a disease that causes scarring and damage to the kidney. Over time, chronic rejection can lead to kidney failure, making it necessary for patients to start dialysis and possibly receive another kidney transplant. Doctors would like to see whether irbesartan and pravastatin can slow this damage and prevent kidney failure in patients with signs of chronic rejection.
The purpose of this study is to monitor patients who have recently been infected with HIV in order to learn how their immune systems respond to HIV infection and to study how the virus multiplies in their bodies. Patients who have been infected with HIV recently are considered to have acute, or early, HIV infection. During this period, viral load (level of HIV in the body) rises sharply to a high level at first but then decreases significantly on its own. Doctors are not sure why this decrease in viral load happens and how the body is able to accomplish this. In this study, patients with acute HIV infection will be monitored so that doctors can study their immune systems to try to learn more about this rise and fall in viral load.
Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the most common lethal genetic disorder in America. Previous studies by our group and others have shown that human recombinant growth hormone (GH) improves height velocity, weight velocity, lean body mass (LBM) and pulmonary function. These positive results have prompted us to ask further questions regarding GH use in CF including: a) Do patients with better baseline body weight and pulmonary function derive more benefit from treatment than those with worse weight and pulmonary function?, b) Does GH use improve the patient's quality of life?, c) Once GH is discontinued, are the positive effects sustained? We hypothesize that GH treatment in CF patients will improve their clinical status and their quality of life. We further hypothesize that these effects will be present regardless of baseline body weight or pulmonary function, and that positive outcome will be sustained for at least one year after GH treatment is discontinued. To test our hypothesis, we will recruit 40 prepubertal children from five CF centers across the United States (8 per center). Patients will be randomly assigned to receive treatment with GH (0.3mg/kg/wk) during either the first or the second year. All subjects will be seen every three months. We will evaluate the following parameters every three months: 1) height, height velocity and Z-score, 2) body weight and weight velocity. Every six months we will measure: 1) lean body mass utilizing DEXA, 2) pulmonary function, including measurement of respiratory muscle strength (peak inspiratory and peak expiratory pressure), 3) quality of life (QOL), quantitated from QOL forms specific for CF ("The Cystic Fibrosis Questionnaire"). After one year of study, subjects will "cross-over" to the other treatment arm. This 24 month study will allow us to statistically compare outcome measures in 20 treated and 20 nontreated subjects from multiple centers, and will allow us to assess sustained effect in the 20 subjects who receive GH during the first year, by comparing their results to results obtained during the year post treatment.
Depression is one of the most common emotional problems among youths with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). It has been shown that depression in youths with IDDM lasts a while and may have a role in later complications of the medical condition. And yet, there are no psychological interventions appropriate for such youngsters. The purpose of this study is to modify a treatment called ''Contextual Psychotherapy'' (that has been developed for depressed youngsters) in order to address special needs of depressed youths with IDDM, and to ''pilot test'' the treatment. The youngsters to be recruited are those being cared for at the Diabetes Clinic of the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. The treatment includes a 3- month phase (16 sessions), followed by a 3-month ''booster'' phase (3 sessions), and two later follow-up evaluations.
In the United States, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)is the leading cause of death in infants between the ages of 1 and 12 months. The etiology of SIDS is still not clear although a number of risk factors have been identified. Sleeping on the stomach has been identified as a major risk for SIDS. The rates of SIDS have dropped substantially in countries in which the usual sleep position has changed from the stomach to the side or back. Back sleep has been shown to be the most stable and safest position. The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends the back sleeping position for all healthy infants. Since the American Academy of Pediatrics began advocating the back sleep position, the incidence of SIDS has decreased by more than 40% in this country. However, the decrease has not been uniform across segments of the population. Black infants continue to have a higher rate of SIDS compared with other groups. This discrepancy could be related to infant sleep position practices. Several studies have shown that infants born to low income, minority, inner-city families were more likely to be placed on the stomach to sleep. Education appears to influence choice of sleep position and may explain, at least to some degree, the difference in choice of sleep position among certain groups. We believe that uniform education of parents will influence the sleep position that parents choose for their baby. We will undertake this initial study to document what parents choose to do with their infants regarding sleep position and why they make these choices so that we can improve our educational approach.
The purpose of this study is to understand how changes in the immune system of HIV-infected patients affect their risk for 3 serious infections: Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis, or CMV organ disease. The purpose also is to understand how anti-HIV medicines may improve the immune system in these patients. (This purpose reflects a change in the AIDS-related [opportunistic] infections studied.) Presently, HIV-infected patients who have had PCP or CMV disease stay on lifelong therapy to prevent the return of the disease. This study is trying to see if a special lab test can help identify which patients can stop this preventive therapy without having another episode of PCP or CMV organ disease. (This rationale reflects a change in the AIDS-related infections studied.)
This is a research study for patients with inoperable lung cancer called non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Currently, the information from a radiological test, computed tomography (CT) scan of the chest, is used to design the best arrangement of radiation beams which will kill tumor cells and still spare the normal parts of lungs and other normal organs in the chest. The purpose of this study is to explore whether adding information from another radiological test, called positron emission tomography (PET), will improve the accuracy of the radiation beam arrangement designed to treat lung cancer. A PET scan is a way to picture the biochemistry of tissues and organs: of how tissues in the body take up glucose, a normal nutrient of the body. The researchers will attempt to create radiation treatment plans from PET images alone and compare differences between hypothetical plans and standard-of-care CT-based radiation treatment plans. Because there is honest uncertainty about the contribution of PET to radiation treatment planning, it is possible that there will be no difference between a CT-based treatment plan and one resulting from PET information. It is also possible that the addition of PET may result in a radiation beam arrangement that may better control lung cancer. The addition of PET may also result in treating less normal tissues, which may lower the risk of radiation side effects. This study will provide the preliminary data necessary to design a larger clinical trial that may define the role of PET in radiation treatment planning.
To compare the safety and effectiveness of itraconazole oral solution to placebo in the treatment of a pulmonary aspergilloma. Aspergilloma is a "fungal ball" in the lungs caused by Aspergillus. The infection can spread from the lungs through the blood to other organs. Aspergilloma can be life-threatening; therefore, an effective treatment is needed.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of creatine treatment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). There is currently no known effective treatment for ALS. It is known that nerve cells die in the brains and spinal cords of patients with ALS but the cause of the cell death is unknown. It has been shown that there is overactive nerve activity due to increased levels of a chemical called glutamate and that there is abnormal cellular metabolism along with increased production of substance called "free radicals." Improving cellular metabolism and readjusting the activity of glutamate in the brain may be beneficial to ALS patients. Creatine is a naturally occurring compound, which improves energy metabolism in cells. Creatine has been given to patients with energy metabolism defects in their muscles, and to athletes. Creatine improves survival in a mouse model of ALS. Three human subjects with ALS have received creatine for up to six months without any side effects. Overall, creatine has been well tolerated and safe.