View clinical trials related to Ataxia.
Filter by:The studies conducted so far concerning the medical and paramedical cares provided to patients with profound and multiple disabilities (PMD) often show important limitations: samples are too small or very heterogeneous, generally constituted of children only; studies are mainly cross-sectional and retrospective, focusing on very specific issues instead of assessing health and quality of life from a more global perspective… So far, the investigators found no published data from a prospective cohort study involving a representative sample of patients with PMD. The present project aims to set up such a cohort so as to describe for the first time the natural history of French patients with PMD as well as the cares they receive at home or within the different dedicated structures in France. This cohort will also make it possible to identify the factors responsible for differences in the cares patients are provided, the consequences of these differences on their health and their quality of life (and those of their relatives) as well as the evolutions of these data over time. It will then allow for assessing the effectiveness of the French healthcare system to care for patients with PMD as well as building a frame of reference regarding the best cares to provide to these patients. The primary goal of this study is to identify the determinants of health among patients with PMD.
Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by loss of coordination and cardiomyopathy. It is the most common form of inherited ataxia with an incidence in 1/50,000 in the Caucasian population. FRDA is associated with progressive damage to the nervous system, resulting in symptoms ranging from gait disturbance to speech problems, as well as diabetes and heart disease. The heart disease manifests as cardiomyopathy, and is responsible for approximately 60% of deaths from FRDA. This study is designed to characterize the cardiac manifestations of the disease using exercise, MRI, ECHO and serum parameters, in the context of the neurological disease. In addition, this study will demonstrate that corneal confocal microscopy (CCM) may also provide a biomarker for FRDA.
The purpose of this study is to learn how Intravenous Immune Globulin (IVIG) will affect Spinocerebellar Ataxia (SCA) symptoms and how it will affect motor and nervous system function in participants Subtypes of SCA to be examined will include SCA types 1, 2, 3, 6, 10 and 11.
This is a multi-centre, multi-national, prospective, observational study of Friedreich's Ataxia (FRDA) with a control group to: - obtain natural history data on individuals affected by FRDA - relate clinical assessments and results from proteomic analyses - expedite identification and recruitment of participants for clinical trials - develop and validate sensitive and reliable outcome measures for detecting onset and change over the natural course of FRDA which may also be potential outcome measures for use in future clinical trials and clinical care - plan for future research studies
Cerebellar ataxia is a complex motor disturbance, which, can occur as a result of many diseases and presents with symptoms of an inability to coordinate balance, gait, extremity and eye movements. Lesions to the cerebellum can cause dyssynergia, dysmetria, dysdiadochokinesia, dysarthria and ataxia of stance and gait. Deficits are observed with movements on the same side of the body as the lesion (ipsilaterally).
The purpose of this study is to learn how treatment with acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR) will affect the hearts of patients with Friedreich's Ataxia as well as how it may affect other symptoms of Friedreich's Ataxia such as difficulties with balance, walking, or upper arm function.
In this proposal the investigators have three Specific Aims using human patient populations as model systems; 1) identify a role for the Basal Ganglia (BG) in perceptual decision making; 2) determine whether the Basal Ganglia contribute to decision making under conditions of visual uncertainty; 3) determine whether the cerebellum plays a role in perceptual decision-making under conditions of visual uncertainty. The investigators designed experiments using healthy humans and humans with diseases known to affect the Basal Ganglia and the cerebellum, Parkinson's Disease, dystonia and non-dystonic cerebellar damage. With this approach the investigators will test the following hypotheses: 1) Patients with Parkinson's Disease and dystonia will have more difficulty than healthy controls making perceptual decisions when faced with sensory uncertainty; when sensory information is certain, patients will show improved decision-making but will still be impaired relative to healthy humans. Hypothesis 2: If ambiguous sensory information is aided by prior information, patients with Parkinson's Disease and dystonia will be unable to use the prior (bias/memory) information to inform their decisions. Hypothesis 3: Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) of Basal Ganglia structures will improve the ability of patients to use prior information to inform their decisions when faced with sensory uncertainty. Hypothesis 4: Both cholinergic and dopaminergic medical therapies will improve the ability of patients to use prior information to inform their decisions. Hypothesis 5: Patients with non-dystonic cerebellar damage will be similar to healthy controls in performance of a perceptual decision making task in conditions of visual uncertainty. The overarching framework of this application is that the same mechanisms (D1 striatal synaptic plasticity) that operate in reward learning play a role in learning and using stimulus priors in a perceptual decision-making task when faced with uncertainty. Because Parkinson's Disease and dystonia share deficits in striatal circuitry, the patient deficits on this task will be similar. Because non-dystonic cerebellar patients do not have dysfunction of striatal circuits, they will show no deficits in the ability to use stimulus priors to guide choices in uncertain conditions. In the event these patients do show deficits, this is will provide evidence for an unexplored role for the cerebellum in perceptual decision-making.
CoRDS, or the Coordination of Rare Diseases at Sanford, is based at Sanford Research in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It provides researchers with a centralized, international patient registry for all rare diseases. This program allows patients and researchers to connect as easily as possible to help advance treatments and cures for rare diseases. The CoRDS team works with patient advocacy groups, individuals and researchers to help in the advancement of research in over 7,000 rare diseases. The registry is free for patients to enroll and researchers to access. Visit sanfordresearch.org/CoRDS to enroll.
The Hereditary Ataxias are a group of genetic disorders characterized by slowly progressive incoordination of gait and often associated with poor coordination of hands, speech, and eye movements. Current treatments for Hereditary Ataxias are mainly pharmacological, rehabilitative, or psychological treatments，while no effective treatment available. Stem Cell therapy is a novel and promising therapeutic strategy for Hereditary Ataxias treatment. In this study, the safety and efficacy of Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells transplantation will be evaluated in patients with Hereditary Ataxias.
Spinocerebellar ataxias (SCA) are genetic neurological diseases that cause imbalance, poor coordination, and speech difficulties. There are different kinds of SCA and this study will focus on types 1, 2,3, and 6 (SCA 1, SCA 2, SCA 3 , also known as Machado-Joseph disease and SCA 6). The diseases are rare, slowly progressive, cause increasingly severe neurological difficulties and are variable across and within genotypes. The purpose of this research study is to bring together a group of experts in the field of SCA for the purpose of learning more about the disease. The research questions are: 1. How does your disease progress over time? 2. What are the best ways to measure the progression? 3. Do some genes, other than the gene that is abnormal in your disease, have any effect on the way the disease behaves? This is a nationwide study and we expect that 800 patients will participate all over the USA. The participants will be in the study for an indeterminate period of time. Study visits will be done every 6 or 12 months depending on the participating site.