View clinical trials related to Nervous System Diseases.
Filter by:The purpose of this trial is to determine the efficacy of spinal cord stimulation, using wire leads, to produce an effective cough in patients with spinal cord injuries.
Functional (psychogenic or somatoform) symptoms are commonly observed in neurology clinics. There is no known empirically validated treatment approach to functional symptoms. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can be effective, but there are major obstacles to its provision. The investigators will test the hypothesis that adding a CBT-based guided self-help (GSH) as compared to treatment as usual (TAU) improves patient outcomes.
The impact of neurological disorders is enormous worldwide, and it is increased in poor settings, due to lack of diagnosis and treatment facilities as well as delayed management. In sub-Saharan Africa, the few observational studies conducted for the past 20 years show that neurological disorders accounted for 7 to 24% of all admissions. Central nervous system (CNS) infections were suspected in one third of all patients admitted with neurological symptoms, with a specific microbial aetiology identified in half of these. Most CNS infections may be considered as "severe and treatable diseases", e.g. human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), cerebral malaria, bacterial meningitis, CNS tuberculosis etc. If left untreated, death or serious sequels occur (mortality rates were as high as 30% in the above mentioned studies), but the outcome may be favourable with timely and appropriate management. In poor settings, such conditions should be targeted in priority in the clinical decision-making process. Unfortunately, most neuro-infections present with non-specific symptoms in their early stages, leading to important diagnostic delays. Moreover, they require advanced diagnostic technology, which is not available in most tropical rural settings: here, you have to rely on clinical judgment and first-line laboratory results, whose confirming or excluding powers are limited or unknown. Several rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) have been recently developed for conditions like malaria or HIV, but their diagnostic contribution has not been evaluated within a multi-disease approach. Thus, this research aims at improving the early diagnosis of severe and treatable neglected and non-neglected infectious diseases which present with neurological symptoms in the province of Bandundu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), by combining classic clinical predictors with a panel of simple point-of-care rapid diagnostic tests. The evaluation of existing algorithms and elaboration/validation of new guidelines will be described in a subsequent protocol.
Background: - Information and samples collected from participants in medical research studies can be useful even after the original study is complete. Researchers can use the information and samples to learn more about multiple sclerosis or other immune system disorders. They can also be used for research into other disorders. Researchers would like to get permission to use samples collected from older studies to launch new lines of research. Objectives: - To look at information and samples from earlier National Institutes of Health Neuroimmunology Branch studies. Eligibility: - People who provided samples and medical information for earlier studies. Design: - Researchers will contact people who took part in earlier studies. Researchers will ask if they can study previously collected data and samples. - Data and samples may include physical exam data and psychological test results. Imaging study results are included. Preserved samples of body fluids and tissues may be studied. These include blood and urine samples. - No new treatment will be provided as part of this research study.
This study in patients with schizophrenia is designed to provide preliminary evidence of the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics as well as the effects on cognitive function of 2 doses of EVP-6124 compared with placebo when given with the patient's usual antipsychotic medication.
The purpose of the initial screening study is to find out if immune problems are an unrecognized cause of epilepsy in some patients. This study consists of a single blood sample, which will be tested for possible immune abnormalities. If enough patients are found who show immune abnormalities, those patients who are still having uncontrolled seizures will be invited to participate in a study of immune treatment with a compound called intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). The study hypothesis is that a significant proportion of the young-onset, refractory, image-negative, partial-onset epilepsy population have an underlying autoimmune disorder, and many of these patients will respond to immune therapies, including IVIG. At present, the importance of immune abnormalities in causing epilepsy, and the proper treatment when they are found, are both poorly understood. The investigators hope that this study will help us understand the cause of some cases that are difficult to treat.
Rocca et al. reported first that the secretion of incretins, particular GLP-1 in rat is regulated by the enteric nervous system, the afferent and efferent vagus nerves [1]. Further, Kazakos et al. [2] reported that autonomic nerve disturbance (AND) in patients with T2DM impaired the incretin effect owing to decreased GLP-1 secretion. However, Toft-Nielsen et al. [3] reported that the decreased GLP-1 responses in the patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are unlikely to be related to the AND and, thus, did not support the results of Rocca et al. and Kazakos et al. Recently, Yabe at al. [4] also observed the same observations in Japanese patients with T2DM. Meanwhile, Jin et al. reported that administration of DPP-IV inhibitor recovered the disturbance of diabetic nerve dysfunction in rat [5]. However, it is unknown whether the administration of DPP-IV inhibitor effects on the AND in human, although many studies are performed to investigate the effect of the DPP-IV inhibitors on glycemic control. Accordingly, it is significant to reinvestigate an effect of DPP-IV inhibitor on glycemic control and autonomic neuropathy in diabetic patients.
Stress (tako-tsubo) cardiomyopathy (SC) is a rapidly reversible form of acute heart failure reported to be triggered by stressful events and associated with a distinctive left ventricular (LV) contraction pattern. SC mimics acute coronary syndrome and is accompanied by reversible left ventricular apical ballooning in the absence of angiographically significant coronary artery stenosis. sympathetic activity dysfunction appears to play a very important role in the pathophysiology of takotsubo cardiomyopathy. In most cases, myocardial scintillography with 123Imetaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) showed altered captation of the radiotracer in several heart segments. In particular, the apical myocardium has poor sympathetic innervations and an uptake reduction in MIBG tracer. A hypothesis for this finding could be that the intense discharge of adrenalin, acting on heart segment with different and abnormal innervation, may produce a transient heart failure characterized by a particular shape of the left ventricle. While studies have shown that heterogeneous MIBG distribution, decreased MIBG uptake and increased norepinephrine content were completely prevented by α-lipoic acid or by L-acetyl carnitine administrations in diabetic cardiomyopathy, no studies have examined the effects of these therapies on tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy. On this basis, the investigators study will evaluate whether the dysfunction of adrenergic cardiac innervation, evaluated by MIBG, persist after previous experience of transient stress-induced cardiac dysfunction. Moreover, the investigators will assess whether the medications that restore sympatho-vagal alterations in diabetic cardiomyopathy, such as α-lipoic acid and L-acetyl carnitine, will improve the adrenergic cardiac innervation, in patients with SC.
The purpose of the Registry is to provide continuing evaluation and periodic reporting of safety and effectiveness of Medtronic market-released products. The Registry data is intended to benefit and support interests of patients, hospitals, clinicians, regulatory bodies, payers, and industry by streamlining the clinical surveillance process and facilitating leading edge performance assessment via the least burdensome approach.
Background: - People with motor neuron disorders have changes in the parts of the brain that control movement. Some tests that are currently used to study these changes are magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). We don t know if MRI scans and TMS give the same results if done at different times in the same person. Researchers want to see if these tests produce different results if given to healthy adults on two separate occasions. Objectives: - To test the reliability of different tests of the brain used to study motor neuron disorders. Eligibility: - <TAB>Healthy individuals at least 35 years of age who have no history of neurological disorders and take no medications. - <TAB>Pregnant women may not participate. Design: - Participants will be screened with a medical history and physical exam. - Participants will have two testing visits 1 to 6 months apart. - The first visit will have three parts. The first part is a neurological exam to test strength, sensation, reflexes, and coordination of movement. The second part will be TMS tests. The third part will involve an MRI scan to study the parts of the brain that control movement. - At the second visit, participants will have MRI scanning only.