View clinical trials related to Brain Diseases.
Filter by:The purpose of this study is evaluate the natural course of disease progression related to gross motor function in children with metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD).
100 ambulatory cirrhotic patients attending a liver transplant clinic will undergo a comprehensive clinical evaluation for severity of liver disease, anemia, depression, and fatigue. Fatigue will be assessed with the FIS and sub-maximal exercise capacity with the 6-minute walk test (6MWT), a standardized exercise test that measures the distance that a patient is capable of walking in 6 minutes (6MWD). Depression will be assessed by using three well-known questionnaires. The SF-36, Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI-II), EQ-5D, and the Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWBI). Univariate analysis will be performed to select the factors that potentially are associated with the scores as indicated by a P value <.20; the selected factors will then be entered in a stepwise regression to create a multivariate model giving the combination of factors that are significantly associated with the measure of fatigue and depression. Hemoglobin (Hb) levels will then be added to the model in order to test its significance while controlling for the other factors.
This is a prospective study designed to examine the role of bacterial overgrowth and delayed intestinal transit and the effect of Rifaximin with hepatic encephalopathy (HE). This study is divided into Phase A and Phase B. The purpose of Phase A is to test patients with cirrhosis to determine if they have bacterial overgrowth which may lead to slow intestinal transit and hepatic encephalopathy. The purpose of Phase B is to investigate whether the improvement found in patients with hepatic encephalopathy taking Rifaximin is also related to decreased bacterial overgrowth. Subjects' mental capacity will be assessed at each visit via interview, brief mental status, questionnaires and psychometric evaluation. Any subject who appears to have lost capacity to continue participation, as evidenced by HE grade 2 or higher, a lack of attentiveness, concentration, or understanding of evaluation, will be discontinued from the study. Female subjects of childbearing potential will be asked to comply with the use of contraception during the Phase B study period as well as throughout the time they remain on study drug.
The purpose of the study is to evaluate the safety of Rifaximin or placebo in subjects with severe hepatic impairment and Hepatic Encephalopathy.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether taking Rifaximin (Xifaxan) in conjunction with the use of nutritional concepts is effective in improving morbidity and quality of life in cirrhotic patients suffering from hepatic encephalopathy (HE).
The goal is to see whether topiramate (an anti-epileptic agent) improves the outcome of babies with neonatal hypoxic encephalopathy who are receiving whole body cooling.
Background: - People with autism and autism spectrum disorders have problems with communication, behavior, and socializing, and many also have intellectual and developmental disabilities. The cause of autism is not known, but previous research has suggested an association between autism and immune changes in the brain. Researchers are interested in using the experimental radioactive drug (11C)PBR28, which attaches to a protein in the brain that is involved in immune changes, in positron emission tomography (PET) scanning of people with and without autism to see if there are greater immune changes in those with autism. Objectives: - To determine if positron emission tomography scanning can be used to evaluate changes in an immune system protein in the brains of people with autism. Eligibility: - Individuals between 18 and 45 years of age who have been diagnosed with either autism or autism spectrum disorders, or are healthy volunteers. Design: - Participants will be screened with a physical examination and psychological examination, medical history, questionnaires about behavior and mood, and blood and urine tests. - Participants will have two imaging studies of the brain at separate study visits. The first study visit will involve a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan to provide a baseline image of the brain. The second study visit will involve PET scan with the radioactive chemical (11C)PBR28 to study immune system proteins in the brain. The MRI scan will take about 40 minutes, and the PET scan will take about 2 hours. - Participants will have a final study visit 24 hours after the PET scan to provide a final blood sample for testing.
Background: - People with epilepsy often have auditory processing disorders that affect their ability to hear clearly and may cause problems with understanding speech and other kinds of verbal communication. Researchers are interested in developing better ways of studying what parts of the brain are affected by hearing disorders and epilepsy, and they need better clinical tests to measure how individuals process sound. These tests will allow researchers to examine and evaluate the effects of epilepsy and related disorders on speech and communication. - A procedure called a magnetoencephalography (MEG) can be used to measure the electrical currents involved in brain activity. Researchers are interested in learning whether MEG can be used to detect differences in the processing of simple sounds in patients with epilepsy, both with and without hearing impairments. Objectives: - To measure brain activity in hearing impaired persons with epilepsy and compare the results with those from people with normal hearing and epilepsy as well as people with normal hearing and no epilepsy. This research is performed in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Hospital and epilepsy patients must be candidates for surgery at Johns Hopkins. Eligibility: - Individuals between 18 to 55 years of age who (1) have epilepsy and have hearing impairments, (2) have epilepsy but do not have hearing impairments, or (3) are healthy volunteers who have neither epilepsy nor hearing impairments. - Participants with epilepsy must have developed seizures after 10 years of age, and must be candidates for grid implantation surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital.. Design: - This study will require one visit of approximately 4 to 6 hours. - Participants will be screened with a full physical examination and medical history, along with a basic hearing test. - Participants will have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the brain, followed by a MEG scan to record magnetic field changes produced by brain activity. - During MEG recording, participants will be asked to listen to various sounds and make simple responses (pressing a button, moving your hand or speaking) in response to sounds heard through earphones. The MEG procedure should take between 1 and 2 hours. - Treatment at NIH is not provided as part of this protocol.
The Optimizing Cooling trial will compare four whole-body cooling treatments for infants born at 36 weeks gestational age or later with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy: (1) cooling for 72 hours to 33.5°C; (2) cooling for 120 hours to 33.5°C; (3) cooling for 72 hours to 32.0°C; and (4) cooling for 120 hours to 32.0°C. The objective of this study is to evaluate whether whole-body cooling initiated at less than 6 hours of age and continued for 120 hours and/or a depth at 32.0°C in will reduce death and disability at 18-22 months corrected age.
Two groups of patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy will be studied. The treatment group (n=17) will receive whole milk (24 g lactose) and the control group (n=17) will receive "lactose-free" milk (3.5 g of lactose) two times a day for 21 days. Clinical history, nutritional assessment, biochemical studies, psychometric tests, critical flicker frequency and a quality of life questionnaire will be performed. The patient will be assessed weekly 21 days. An external monitor will control the randomization process in order to allocate the patients into both study group and will not share the assignation codes with anyone until the end of the study.