There are about 3194 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Portugal. The country of the clinical trial is determined by the location of where the clinical research is being studied. Most studies are often held in multiple locations & countries.
It is known that there are studies that prove the effectiveness of muscle energy techniques and the fourth ventricle technique separately, however, information is scarce regarding the combination of the two and their effectiveness in the population. The aim of this randomized controlled study is to compare the immediate effects of the techniques compared to the muscle energy technique alone in female basketball players.
Memory complaints are a common symptom among Subjective Cognitive Decline, Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer disease. Indeed, episodic memory and Alzheimer disease are highly sensitive to aging. Many brain areas become active when we remember an event from the past. The precuneus, part of the posterior system of default mode network, has been identified as a central node of episodic memory retrieval and a central node in various psychiatric and neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer disease. Age-related changes have been consistently found in the default mode network connectivity, occurring within its posterior areas and with the reduction of connectivity between anterior and posterior subnetwork. It has also been found that aging is associated with decreased functional connectivity in the precuneus and posterior cingulate of the default mode network. Furthermore, γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), which plays an essential role in regulating brain activity and modulating the default mode network, shows a decrease throughout the normal course of aging, in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer disease. It was also verified a link between cognitive decline and the dysfunction of the inhibitory activity of GABAergic interneurons, particularly parvalbumin-positive interneurons, that play a role in control local circuitry, brain networks and memory processing. Parvalbumin interneurons are the fast-spiking interneurons that generate and maintain gamma frequency. Gamma band has been associated with the encoding and retrieval of episodic memory. Impairments of gamma oscillations have been observed in healthy aging, Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer disease. By identifying these functional connectivity changes, non-invasive neuromodulation techniques may offer a new strategy for improving cognitive functions. Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) is a form of non-invasive brain stimulation that modulates cortical activity by applying weak, oscillating electrical currents to the cortex via two or more scalp electrodes. By using alternating currents, it is possible to simulate the rhythmic pattern of electrophysiological activity of the brain. tACS can interact with neural firing at behaviorally relevant frequencies linked to memory. In this randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, cross-over study, the investigators will evaluate whether stimulation with gamma tACS on the precuneus can improve episodic memory in healthy older adults.
This study aims to evaluate the clinical, imaging results of endovascular revascularization of the aorto-iliac sector in comparison with aortobifemoral bypass and the hybrid approach, in patients with atherosclerotic disease of the iliac sector classified as type C and D by the TransAtlantic Inter-Society Consensus (TASC II
To overcome the lack of knowledge regarding the impact of different "living low, training high" methods on swimming performance, a 4-week intervention will be carried out to determine and compare the effects of three Repeated Sprints in Hypoxia (RSH) methods with each other and with a control group. Our goal is to characterize and compare the adaptations in swimming performance and in cardiorespiratory, metabolic, and muscle oxygenation responses that can arise after a 4-week training period of RSH and RSH-voluntary hypoventilation (VHL) performed in a ski-ergometer.
Globally 12.6 million people, including 1.7 million children under the age of 5, die each year from environmental-related illnesses. Prenatal exposure to environmental chemical pollutants has been associated with perinatal mortality, prematurity, low birth weight, congenital malformations, neurobehavioral function disorder and metabolic disorders. This project aims: a) to evaluate exposure to environmental pollutants during pregnancy; and, b) to study the association of this exposure with anthropometry and neurodevelopment of the offspring, up to 6 years of age. This study will be based on a population of 1000 pregnant women whose recruitment has already started under the IoMum project (clinical trials #NCT04010708), previously approved by Ethics Commitee of Centro Hospitalar e Universitário São João/Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto (#292-17). Maternal urine samples collected in the 1st and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy will be used. Maternal urinary concentrations of toxic metals and pesticide metabolites will be determined and neurodevelopmental outcomes will be evaluated as well as anthropometric parameters of children from birth to 6 years of age. The results of this project will contribute to the characterization of the exposure of Portuguese pregnant women to environmental pollutants as well as to the knowledge on the association between isolated or cumulative exposure to these pollutants and the health of the offspring.
This study was designed to compare the efficacy and safety of I-DXd with treatment of physician's choice in participants with relapsed small cell lung cancer (SCLC).
Helicobacter pylori (Hp) is a gram-negative bacterium that colonizes human gastric mucosa and is associated with chronic gastritis that can progress to severe complications such as peptic ulcer disease, gastric adenocarcinoma and gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma. More than half of the world's population is infected with H. pylori and Portugal is one of the countries with the highest Hp burden. All of infected patients should be treated, however, H. pylori treatment is challenged by the continuously rising antibiotic resistance which has reached alarming levels worldwide. For this reason, it is now well accepted that tailoring treatment of H. pylori infection based on systematic antimicrobial susceptibility testing is useful to avoid the increase of antibiotic resistance. Our aims are to determine prospectively the efficacy and safety of first-line H. pylori eradication treatment based on resistance profile (determined by molecular methods) vs. empirical bismuth quadruple therapy, to evaluate the accuracy of H. pylori detection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (vs. histopathological examination) and to estimate the prevalence of H. pylori infection and H. pylori resistance to clarithromycin and levofloxacin in Portugal. This prospective study will be the first national study to investigate the benefits of tailored H. pylori eradication treatment. The investigators expect that this project will be able to demonstrate the non-inferiority of susceptibility-guided treatment comparing with empirical therapy, and our results may change H. pylori treatment recommendations by systematically applying antibiotic susceptibility testing before prescribing eradication therapy.
Retrospective evaluation of the value of additive therapeutic plasma exchange (PEX) compared to standard medical therapy (SMT) in Amanita toxin-associated acute liver failure in children and adolescents within the last 10 years at a international group of liver transplant centers.
Many investigations have been done to determine the exercise that can elicit the greatest benefits on glycemic control and metabolic health, with findings suggesting that incorporation of higher intensity and longer duration of exercise prescribed may eliminate much of the "non-response" observed following exercise training. Even with the incorporation of higher intensity exercise into interventions aimed at improving glycemic control in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), the investigators and others continue to have mixed results, with not all individuals with T2DM obtaining benefits in insulin sensitivity and glycemic control to a given exercise training program. Many of the metabolic processes involved in glucose homeostasis, such as insulin production and sensitivity, undergo daily circadian rhythms, controlled by cellular clock machinery located both centrally and peripherally (i.e. skeletal muscle). However, in adults with T2DM, these diurnal rhythms are impaired, with reduced insulin sensitivity in the morning, which is thought to contribute to the fasting hyperglycemia (i.e., "dawn phenomenon") observed in these individuals. Exercise may be a non-photic cue that can amplify or alter these metabolic rhythms. It has been suggested that skeletal muscle metabolic inflexibility in metabolic disorders such as overweight/obesity and T2DM is associated with reduced mitochondrial fatty acid oxidative capacity. It has been demonstrated that exercise can increase mitochondrial oxidative capacity by remodeling mitochondrial morphology and dynamics. It is unknown if potential differences in metabolic flexibility can be found in response to exercise at different times of the day. Most of the experimental evidence originates from animal models with only 3 studies performed in humans with T2DM, which displayed conflicting results. To overcome the shortcomings in the literature, the main objective of this research project is to assess the effects of performing exercise at different times of the day on glycemic control and related outcomes on the inter-individual response variability in glycemic control and related metabolic health parameters in two distinct populations: 1) individuals with T2DM on the most common mono-hyperglycemic drug therapy (i.e., metformin); and 2) age-matched sedentary overweight/obese individuals, where glycemic control is known to deteriorate, hence increasing the risk of developing insulin resistance and T2DM.
The ClearSkin module, Er: Glass 1540nm, is largely used in the treatment of acne vulgaris and acne scars. The non-ablative ER:Glass 1540 nm laser deeply penetrates the skin, causing thermal damage to the sebaceous glands, destroying P. acnes bacteria and reducing sebum production, while leaving the epidermis intact. The integrated vacuum mechanism extracts accumulated sebaceous material from the pores, while contact cooling protects the skin, reducing pain and allowing for safer and more effective treatment of the sebaceous glands within the dermis. Based on this background, the investigators have considered a pilot study aimed at assessing the efficacy and safety of the ClearSkin Module in treating subjects with facial acne scars.