There are about 3285 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Pakistan. The country of the clinical trial is determined by the location of where the clinical research is being studied. Most studies are often held in multiple locations & countries.
The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of non surgical periodontal treatment on glycemic control in type II diabetics.
The Karachi-based Pakistan Diabetes Prevention Study aims to address key issues in the prevention of type 2 diabetes. Approximately 20,000 people From four communities will be screened for diabetes risk factors using a non-invasive diabetes risk-score system. Those found to be at increased risk will be given an oral glucose tolerance test. People who, after the oral glucose tolerance test, are identified as having prediabetes will have the opportunity to take part in the Pakistan Diabetes Prevention Study lifestyle intervention. This consists of culturally adjusted preventive strategies focusing on diet and physical activity in real-life settings. Another important aspect of this trial will be to assess the impact of urban planning on the prevalence of obesity and diabetes.
Chronic HCV infection is one of the common causes of the chronic liver disease. Approximately 6-10% of the general public is expected to be suffering from this infection. In case that these patients are not treated at an appropriate time, these patients develop the sequelae of the chronic liver disease e.g. cirrhosis of liver, Ascites, and Hepatocellular carinoma. Interferon alpha 2 a or alpha 2b injections and Ribavirin combination is the treatment of choice for people suffering from Chronic HCV infection and this combination need to be administered for 6-12 months. Interferons are biological agents and are to be administered parenterally. Interferons are expensive and are associated with number of minor and major adverse effects. Ribavirin is also associated with significant adverse effects. These compounds cannot be considered as one of the ideal forms of the treatment. In the past, quite a few natural products have been tested to assess their hepatoprotective activity and possibly anti viral activity as well. These include Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid), Vitamin E, Zinc, Silymarin, Red beet roots, crushed licorice and etc. etc. Rationale Iodine , Potassium iodide and Ascorbic acid are natural products used in the management of Thyroiditis and chronic cutaneous fungal infections. This combination of iodine compounds along with ascorbic acid is being used for the management of chronic hepatitis B & C in the central Asian states e.g. Kazakhstan etc. The investigators have conducted a feasibility study in which oral Iodine Compound {RENESSANS} was given to patients suffering HCV related Chronic Active Hepatitis and anti-viral activity and safety has been analyzed. In this study, RENESSANS containing regimen has been well tolerated by all the patients and has shown some antiviral activity. In this study the investigators will assess whether the administration of RENESSANS {oral } improves the antiviral activity in patients receiving standard interferon therapy.
We hypothesized that vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy can prevent adverse pregnancy outcome.
While treating depression, significant numbers respond poorly to anti-depressants; one cause is vitamin B12 deficiency. The investigators are conducting an open label randomized controlled trial to investigate difference in response to SSRI monotherapy alone versus SSRI and intramuscular B12 replacement in people with low-normal B12 levels. 300 participants will be allocated to each arm of intervention at out patient clinics of the department of Psychiatry at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi Pakistan. Baseline and 3 month measurement of depression will be on Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (Urdu version) and response rates compared.
The purpose of this study is to determine that extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) is safe and effective for the treatment of refractory angina pectoris.
Diabetes mellitus is becoming a global epidemic. There is a need to devise a non invasive method for detection of diabetes and its related complication. Tear proteins are easy to collect causing no harm to a patient and different studies indicate that tear proteins of diabetic patients are significantly different from non diabetic population. This difference in the composition of tear proteins become more pronounced with advancement of diabetic retinopathy.
Patients suffering from Schizophrenia and their families often suffer from poor care because of ignorance about the disorder especially in economically developing countries. Although antipsychotic medication is effective in reducing relapse rate, 30-40 percent of patients relapse within one year and 40-60 percent relapse within 2 years after discharge from 1st hospitalization even if they are receiving maintenance medication. Although antipsychotic medications are the mainstay of the treatment for schizophrenia, patients with schizophrenia benefit more from combined use of antipsychotic drugs and psychosocial treatment than pharmacotherapy alone in delaying or preventing relapse or reducing hospital days. It is also less costly than standard treatment and suitable for psychiatric rehabilitation. Although there are now a number of studies from western countries and a randomized controlled trial from china which have led to increase enthusiasm about psychosocial treatment for schizophrenia but question remains about comparative benefit of treatment methods and additional methods of multiple treatment. In developing countries there is need for further studies in which integrated treatment of pharmaco-therapy and psycho-education is instituted and compared with treatment as usual. Realizing the need for maintaining the compliance and continuity of treatment, department of psychiatry has started a program called Supervised Treatment of Outpatient Schizophrenia. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Supervised Treatment versus the usual care provided in the outpatient.
This study aims to assess the impact of training General Practitioners (GPs) on adherence to antihypertensive medication among hypertensive individuals. It also aims to assess risk factors for non-adherence. Special training (in appropriate algorithms for management and patient involvement in therapeutic decision making) has been given to GPs. The study has been conducted in six middle or low income clusters of Karachi recruiting individuals randomized to specially trained or untrained GPs, with a follow-up period of 6 weeks. The medication event monitoring system (MEMS)has been used for assessing adherence. It is hypothesized that compliance levels of individuals going to specially trained GPs is higher compared to those going to GPs not having received special training.
High blood pressure is a global public health problem in developed and developing countries including Pakistan. Various studies conducted around the world have linked salt intake to variation in the blood pressure.However, definite conclusions are lacking and the exact role of dietary salt in salt-blood pressure relationship remains controversial. While clinical practice guidelines recommend dietary salt restriction for lowering blood pressure, the relationship of salt with blood pressure has not been tested in the Pakistani population. Therefore, the efficacy of dietary salt restriction on blood pressure of this population remains to be determined. The study aims to determine the relationship between dietary salt intake and blood pressure in Pakistani population. It is hypothesized that alteration in the dietary salt intake demonstrates significant changes in the Systolic BP.