View clinical trials related to Parkinson's Disease.
Filter by:The purpose of this study is to examine the ability of a structured physical activity program to improve sleep quality and daytime sleepiness in patients with Parkinson's disease.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease affecting movement. Although drug treatments for PD are available they only treat the symptoms of the disease, fail to halt neuronal loss, and are associated with long term side effects and loss of efficacy. There is a chronic need to develop neuroprotective therapies. Increased iron and oxidative stress have been heavily implicated in the neurodegenerative process in PD, hence removal of excess iron by iron chelation represents a potential drug target. Iron chelators are extensively utilised to treat peripheral iron overload disorders (e.g. thalassaemia) and recently the investigators have demonstrated iron chelators such as Deferiprone can enter the brain removing excess iron and are neuroprotective in PD animal models. Although good tolerability and efficacy to remove brain iron has also been shown in a pilot study with the iron chelators Deferiprone in young patients with Friedreich Ataxia, where iron accumulates in the dentate nucleus, no studies have been conducted in aged individuals affected by PD. Hence the aims of this study are 1) to assess whether Deferiprone is well tolerated in PD patients, 2) whether Deferiprone can remove the excess iron levels found in the brain area affected by PD, the substantia nigra, as assessed by Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and 3) whether Deferiprone has any direct effect on the clinical symptoms of PD. Three groups of 12 (total 36) early stage drug free PD patients will be treated with 20 or 30mg/kg/d Deferiprone or Placebo for 6 months. Over the 6 months patients will receive serial MRI scans, neurological examinations not only to assess PD symptoms but also psychological state, plus blood test to monitor for potential side effects. Positive results from this pilot will help support larger clinical trials to evaluate whether Deferiprone can slow down/halt PD.
The cause of Parkinson's disease (PD) is unknown and a reliable biomarker to identify PD patients as early as possible is urgently needed. Nerve cells near the nose and in the gut become first affected in PD and patients frequently suffer from loss of smell and constipation. The nose and gut harbor very high amounts of bacteria that influence our body functions in many ways, even in the brain. The investigators are examining a possible role of bacteria of the nose and gut in the pathogenesis of PD. This may lead to a better understanding of what PD causes and may open new possibilities for diagnosis and treatment. The investigators will recruit 100 PD patients and 100 control subjects. The investigators will characterize all subjects carefully with respect to clinical symptoms. The investigators will collect bacterial samples from the nose, mouth and stool of these subjects. Using modern genomic techniques the investigators will read out the genetic code of all bacteria contained in these samples and will be able to identify which species of bacteria are present in the samples. Using complex cluster computing the investigators will compare the pattern of bacterial species between PD patients and controls and look for specific abnormalities in PD patients. If the investigators can detect specific differences of bacterial communities between PD patients and controls this may point to a role of bacteria as a cause of PD. Since there are many ways to influence bacterial communities pharmacologically (antibiotics, probiotics) it will be possible to investigate whether these therapies could alleviate or even reverse PD symptoms. Furthermore, the investigators would be able to use these differences as a biomarker which would enable us to develop a quick screening test for bacterial samples that may reveal whether a person has PD or not. By doing this study the investigators will learn whether bacteria play a role in the development of PD and whether the investigators can use them as a biomarker or therapeutic target. So hopefully the investigators will be able in the future to better understand what causes PD, how the investigators can diagnose it as early as possible and how to cure patients from PD.
The purpose of this study is to collect kinematic motion data from subjects with movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and essential tremor (ET) to develop and validate algorithms for quantifying motor symptoms such as tremor, bradykinesia (slowed movements), dyskinesias (sudden, involuntary movements), gait, and balance during standardized tasks and/or activities of daily living.
Based on studies showing better responsiveness of motor versus cognitive symptoms to Parkinson's Disease medication, also known as dopaminergic treatments, the investigators hypothesize that comparison of resting state networks in the on versus off medication state in Parkinson's Disease patients will show greater effects on brain networks associated with motor control.
This is a multi-centre study to be conducted in Sweden and Finland. Up to 24 male and/or female patients of non-childbearing potential aged 45 to 75 years (inclusive), with a clinical diagnosis Parkinson's Disease will be randomised in the study to allow for 20 patients to complete this study.The study will evaluate the effect of 8 weeks treatment with AZD3241 on microglia activation as measured via PET examinations.
This study involves Parkinson's disease (PD). Symptoms include slow movement, tremor, and muscle rigidity. Current medications for the treatment of PD do not improve gait and balance difficulties in individuals with PD. Donepezil (study drug) has been found to reduce falls in individuals with PD. The mechanism in which this reduction of falls occurs is unclear. The investigators study will look at what aspects of gait and balance are improved by the study drug. The study drug is not approved to treat PD in the United States or other countries because we do not know enough about it.
Non-Ergot Dopamine agonists are meanwhile the drugs of first-choice in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. The receptor profile of the non-ergot dopamine-agonist piribedil is unique. In addition to agonistic effects on dopaminergic D2- and D3-receptors piribedil has adrenergic alpha-2A- and alpha-2C-receptors antagonisic properties. There is evidence from the literature that the antagonistic properties of piribedil are correlated with an improvement of cognitive function and vigilance parameters in parkinson's disease. The aim of the present non-interventional study is to investigate the safety and efficacy of piribedil during long-term therapy of patients with M. Parkinson under consideration of cognitive functions and quality of life.
Mild cognitive impairment, including difficulty with solving problems, planning, attention, or recalling information, can be a significant problem for individuals with Parkinson's disease. Even mild cognitive difficulties can lead to worse functioning, quality of life, depression, and difficulty for caregivers. Thus, ideally treatment at this stage would improve both cognitive symptoms and some of the other problems associated with these symptoms. Despite the fact that mild cognitive impairment is a serious problem for Parkinson's disease patients little is known about how best to treat it. This study is a 24-week clinical trial to see if a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drug, the Exelon (rivastigmine) Patch, is useful in treating mild cognitive impairment in patients with Parkinson's disease. Currently, the Exelon (rivastigmine) Patch is FDA-approved for the treatment of mild to moderate dementia in Alzheimer and Parkinson's disease patients.
The purpose of this study is to learn if a new brain imaging technology called DaTscan can detect subtle changes in the brain that are similar to those seen in early Parkinson's disease (PD). The results of this study may provide more information about a possible association between mild to moderate traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and PD. The objectives of this study are to define and describe a group of approximately 7,122 mTBI subjects and 7,122 subjects without mTBI (mTBI-) seen in the Emergency Rooms of NorthShore University HealthSystem during the years 2006-2011, and to select from willing eligible subjects a random sample of 100 mTBI subjects and 100 mTBI- subjects (of the same age and gender) to undergo written informed consent, neurological examinations, blood drawing for DNA extraction and storage, and DaTscan brain imaging. The investigators will compare the findings from persons who experienced mTBI (cases) to persons without a history of brain injury (mTBI- or "controls").