View clinical trials related to Motor Neuron Disease.
Filter by:Background: - Electrical impedance myography (EIM) is a new technique being studied to see if it is helpful in evaluating muscle disorders and nerve disorders. EIM looks at how a mild, painless electrical current travels through muscles. Researchers want to gain experience in using the EIM device. They will collect information on the results of using it on people with and without nerve and muscle diseases, and compare that with information from other standard tests. First, they will test the device on healthy people. Then they will test people with a variety of neuromuscular diseases. Because the test is noninvasive and not painful, researchers will test both children and adults. Objectives: - To gain experience using the EIM muscle testing device. Eligibility: - Healthy volunteers at least 2 years old. - Individuals at least 2 years old who have neuromuscular disease. Design: - Participants will be screened with a medical history and physical exam. - Participants will have one 2-3 hour clinic visit. Researchers may request follow-up visits. - Participants will be tested with the EIM device. The device and small electrodes will be placed on their skin. An electric current will pass through the device, but the participants will not feel this. - Participants may have an ultrasound test. A gel will be put on their skin, and a device will be moved over the skin. - Participants may have a nerve test. Electrodes will be placed on their skin, and they will feel a small shock. - Participants may have a test where a thin needle is inserted in their muscle.
ALS is a severe progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by degeneration motor neurons leading to death in 3 to 5 years. Gradually in time, the patient deprived of all motor skills as well as the possibility of communication written and oral developing a state close Locked In Syndrome (LIS). The main objective is to establish the feasibility of brain-computer interface using the pathological condition, with dependent disabled subjects as a means of communication.
The purpose of this registry is to (A) better describe the incidence and prevalence of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) in the United States;(B) examine appropriate factors, such as environmental and occupational, that may be associated with the disease; (C) better outline key demographic factors (such as age, race or ethnicity, gender, and family history of individuals who are diagnosed with the disease) associated with the disease; and (D) better examine the connection between ALS and other motor neuron disorders that can be confused with ALS, misdiagnosed as ALS, and in some cases progress to ALS.
The purpose of this study is to compare the safety and the effects of moderate-intensity aerobic endurance training to those of an usual physical therapy intervention on exercise capacity and quality of life in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive weakness and muscular atrophy due to the degeneration and loss of motor neurons, the nerve cells that, in the central nervous system (motor cortex, brainstem and spinal chord), control voluntary movement. Riluzole, the only drug approved for ALS treatment, modestly slow disease progression. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive technique of neuromodulation that is currently studied as a possible therapeutic tool for several neurological and psychiatric diseases and has been found safe and well tolerated. Based on experimental evidence in animals and human subjects, tDCS is expected to reduce motor cortex excitability and excitotoxicity, that is neuronal injury induced by excessive glutamatergic stimulation, one of postulated pathophysiological mechanisms in ALS. This study will investigate if transcranial direct current stimulation of motor cortex is useful in delaying disease progression and is well tolerated in ALS patients.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease that involves not only motor structures, as was previously thought, but also brain areas dealing with cognition as well as parts of the limbic system. Clinical, imaging and pathological evidence suggests that ALS and fronto-temporal dementia (FTD) have several features in common, and that these two diseases could be the two ends of a pathological continuum.
The purpose of this study is to obtain preliminary device safety information and demonstrate proof of principle (feasibility) of the ability of people with tetraplegia to control a computer cursor and other assistive devices with their thoughts.
This study will examine the effectiveness of Cistanche Total Glycosides(CTG) in treating patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - a fatal neurological degenerative disease that causes adult-onset, progressive motor neurons loss in the spinal cord, brain stem and motor cortex. Patients develop progressive wasting and weakness of both upper and lower limbs, bulbar and respiratory muscles. Usually death from respiratory failure typically is within 3-5 years of diagnosis. Although there are various treatments for ALS, riluzole is the only approved treatment to delay the disease progression. Cistanche Total Glycosides is an approved drug that has protective effects. It acts anti-apoptosis by activating several protective pathways, stimulates neuronal differentiation of adult neural stem cells in the brain, and improves long-term recovery. CTG is a highly attractive candidate for the treatment of neurodegenerative conditions such as ALS. Patients 18 to 65 years of age who have had mild to moderately severe ALS for 0.5 to 2 years of duration may be eligible for this study. Candidates will be screened with a medical history and possible review of medical records, physical examination, blood test, urine and stool analyses, electrocardiogram, electrophysiological examination, neurological imaging and, for women, a pregnancy test. Participants will have drug therapy according to randomized number. One group receives CTG while other group receives placebo. For the procedure, patients are given a medication to lessen anxiety and any discomfort. Patients receive drugs for 9 months. The CTG dosage is 1.8g/day. Physical examination and interview, Appel ALS scale and ALS-Functional Rating Scale will be done in 28 days and 3, 6, 9months. Electrophysiological examination will be tested per 3 months. Blood samples will be collected on treat28 days and 3, 6, 9months.
PET imaging of activated microglia offers a tool of investigation of a range of brain diseases where neuroinflammation is a component. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is the most frequent motoneuronal disease in adult. This study was designed to explore the feasibility of molecular imaging modality by Positron Emission Tomography using 18F-X as an in vivo marker of activated microglia for the assessment of neuroinflammation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. PET may help in the diagnosis of the disease and, further, may allow assessment of the efficacy of antiinflammatory treatment.
Non-invasive mechanical ventilation (NIV) has been increasingly used as a treatment of chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure. Its use in patients affected by chronic obstructive pulmonary disorders is still controversial, while most of the studies performed in restrictive thoracic disorders (RTD), and in particular in neuromuscular patients, suggested alleviation of the symptoms of chronic hypoventilation in the short term, and in two small studies survival was prolonged. In the terminal phase of the disease, when the respiratory muscles became weaker it is very likely that the operators need to frequently adjust the level of inspiratory pressure in an attempt to guarantee an adequate tidal volume, so that alveolar hypoventilation may be avoided. Theoretically the use of a volume assisted ventilation may overpass this problem of frequent variations of the settings, since the provision of a fixed tidal volume may always guarantee and adequate alveolar ventilation. The primary aims of this multicenter randomized study are to evaluate the clinical efficacy, the patients' tolerance and quality of life and the frequency of changing settings in a group of patients with SLS and initial chronic respiratory failure undergoing long-term NIV with Pressure Support Ventilation or Volume Assisted Ventilation.