View clinical trials related to Parkinson's Disease.
Filter by:Parkinson's disease patients may have pronounced ON-OFF motor fluctuations. These motor fluctuations are currently treated with medication and surgery, which are limited by their efficacy and side effects. Our study aims to determine whether relaxation guided imagery can alleviate the OFF state of PD patients and therefore can be used as an adjunct to conventional medication.
The purpose of this clinical trial is to compare the safety and tolerability of two dose regimens of fipamezole in adult patients with Parkinson's Disease who are receiving levodopa.
Background: - Researchers are interested in studying individuals who have known or suspected metabolic or genetic diseases that put them at a high risk for heart diseases or diseases of their blood vessels. To improve the results of the study, both affected and nonaffected individuals will be asked to provide blood and other samples and will undergo tests to evaluate heart and lung function. Nonaffected individuals will include relatives of affected individuals and healthy nonrelated volunteers. Objectives: - To study individuals who have or are at risk for cardiovascular diseases, as well as their unaffected relatives and healthy volunteers. Eligibility: - Individuals between 1 and 100 years of age. Participants may be healthy volunteers, individuals with cardiovascular diseases, or unaffected relatives of individuals with cardiovascular diseases. Design: - Participants will have some or all of the following tests, as directed by the study researchers: - Photography of the face and full body - Body measurements - Radiography, including chest or limb x-rays - Metabolic stress testing to study heart and muscle function - Echocardiography to study heart function - Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies, including cardiovascular MRI, angiography, and contrast MRI, to study heart function and performance - Computed tomography (CT) angiogram to obtain images of the heart and lungs - Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to study possible fat infiltration of the heart - Six-minute walk test to study heart, lung, and muscle function and performance - Vascular ultrasound to study blood vessel walls - Blood, tissue, and other specimens will be collected for research and testing, and will be taken either as part of the clinical study or during surgical procedures. - Follow-up studies may be performed under separate research protocols.
The purpose of this clinical trial is to determine the maximum tolerated dose of Fipamezole in adult patients with Parkinson's disease who are receiving levodopa.
Dysphagia in Parkinson's disease(PD) is common and its presence is related to motor and sensory abnormalities, and incoordination between swallowing and breathing. Despite harming as respiratory infections and increased risk of death, treatment of this condition remains uncertain. This study aims to evaluate the effect of oral motor exercises on the swallowing dynamics and quality of life of dysphagic Parkinson's disease patients. This study is an open trial, self-paired and blinded to the examiner. The participants will perform oropharyngeal exercises for five weeks and will be evaluated before and after intervention by swallowing videofluoroscopy and questionnaires about quality of life in dysphagia (SWAL-QOL).
This is a study to compare the efficacy of IPX066 and CLE in subjects with advanced Parkinson's disease.
Dysfunction of autonomic nervous system is an important non motor feature of Parkinson' disease (PD). Lewy body formation is widely distributed in hypothalamus and in sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. Animal studies suggest a link between hypothalamus sensing of substrates and glucose metabolism. Thus, hypothalamus lesions could lead to change in glucose metabolism. Recently, we showed that fasting blood glucose level was significantly higher in PD patients than in control group suggesting that glucose tolerance may be impaired in PD. Some studies provided evidence for higher diabetes prevalence in PD patients whereas others showed no difference or a reduced risk of diabetes prevalence in PD patients compared to healthy subjects. So, the risk that a PD patient develops a glucose intolerance or a diabetes is not clearly established and merit to be studied considering the damageable consequences for patient healthy. The aim of this prospective study was to determine the risk that a PD patient develop a glucose intolerance or a diabetes compared to a matched control group, using an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).
Approximately twenty four (24) subjects will participate in this research trial. The research trial will be conducted in approximately twelve (12) medical centers in the following countries: Germany, France, South Africa, Austria and Canada. The research trial will last until December 2011.
The purpose of this research is to determine whether repetitive sessions of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the prefrontal cortex can enhance the cognitive, affective and motor functioning of those with Parkinson's Disease. In this study we will compare active tDCS with sham tDCS. Each subject will receive two consecutive weeks of stimulation (Monday through Friday). A battery of neuropsychological and affective tests will be administered throughout the duration of the study.
Along with cognitive and psychobehavioural disorders, gait disorders represent a major problem in the treatment of advanced Parkinson's disease (PD). PD can be considered to be a hyperglutamatergic disease because dopaminergic depletion induces hyperactivity of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and the internal pallidum (GPi), with glutamatergic hyperactivity of the STN's efferent pathway, i.e., the subthalamopallidal, subthalamonigral and subthalamo-entopeduncular pathways (projecting to the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN)). Excess glutamate in the PPN has also been observed in the 6-OHDA rat model of PD. Reduction of this glutamatergic hyperactivity within the PPN via the systemic or intra-peduncular administration of glutamate antagonists improves akinesia in drug-induced murine and primate models of PD, via the NMDA and AMPA receptors. High doses of memantine (10 mg/kg) improve locomotion in reserpine- and alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine-treated rats. In humans, the PPN may play a key role in gait, posture control, axial rigidity and attention. It is also involved in the gating of sensory information involved in the startle reflex, which can be studied via prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the blink reflex. At present, two uncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonists are approved for use in humans: amantadine and memantine. Reviews of the recent literature on these drugs have identified no published studies specifically on severe gait and attention disorders in PD. Memantine is a partial blocker of open NMDA channels. The value of memantine relates to the fact that it decreases excessive glutamatergic transmission by lowering the synaptic noise due to excessive activation of NMDA receptors. In this double-blind study, the investigators shall seek to demonstrate the presence or absence of an effect of memantine on gait and attention disorders. In order to study the interaction between glutamatergic hyperactivity and the dopaminergic system, the investigators shall study the phenomena both in the absence of L-dopa and following acute administration of the latter. Twenty eight volunteer, non-demented, late-stage PD patients displaying severe gait disorders will receive memantine (20 mg/day) or placebo for 3 months. The investigators expect to see a reduction in gait and attention disorders, together with an improvement in the blink reflex with PPI under memantine. This pilot study could subsequently be turned into a double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter study.