View clinical trials related to Parkinson's Disease.
Filter by:Respiratory difficulty is one of the primary factors leading to death in patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) and Multiple Sclerosis. Both diseases are progressive degenerating diseases that cause difficulties in breathing, airway protection and swallowing. Patients with PD and MS typically become sedentary and lose endurance, maximal fitness levels and overall pulmonary function. Much of the research focus has been on the motor symptoms of PD and MS yet the pulmonary and swallowing complications are perhaps ultimately the most important disability as the diseases progress. The inability to generate adequate respiratory pressure is responsible for reduced cough magnitudes and cough response times. Cough is critical for the clearance of foreign materials in the airway helping to reduce infiltration of bacteria and subsequent respiratory infection. With reduced cough function an increased risk for pulmonary disease occurs due to a reduced ability to protect the airways. There are a number of promising outcomes from an expiratory strength-training program. By increasing expiratory muscle strength and expiratory pressure generation, effective breathing, clearance of the airway, and improved swallowing can occur. These explicit outcomes are predicted based on our experience with the use of an innovative device-driven, home-based expiratory strength training program focused on the expiratory muscles of respiration. This project focuses on following patients with PD and MS for an initial 5 weeks of strength training and them testing the outcome of a caregiver program for maintaining treatment effects.
The goal of this study is to determine the vulnerability of mood-related neurocircuitry in Parkinson Disease (PD) using deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN DBS).
Respiratory difficulty is one of the primary factors leading to death in patients with Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease (IPD). The progressive degeneration of a family of segregated motor and non-motor circuits in the brain results in motor and non-motor dysfunction. Breathing and swallowing are well known to be affected in IPD, and attention to these functions is fitting since most patients eventually experience morbidity and even mortality as a result of this dysfunction. Patients with IPD typically become sedentary and lose endurance, maximal fitness levels and overall pulmonary function. Much of the research focus has been on the motor symptoms of IPD (tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia) yet the pulmonary complications are perhaps ultimately the most important disability. The inability to generate adequate respiratory pressure is responsible for reduced cough magnitudes and cough response times. Cough is critical for the clearance of foreign materials in the airway helping to reduce infiltration of bacteria and subsequent respiratory infection. With reduced cough function an increased risk for pulmonary disease due to a reduced ability to protect the airways occurs. Moreover, the recognized debilitating disruptions to voice and speech characteristics that limit communication, care taking, employment opportunities and social interactions are also a result of poor respiratory function. There are a number of promising outcomes from an expiratory strength-training program. By increasing expiratory muscle strength and expiratory pressure generation, effective breathing, clearance of the airway, production of a louder and clearer voice as well as improved swallowing can occur. These explicit outcomes are predicted based on our experience with the use of an innovative device-driven, home-based expiratory strength training program focused on the expiratory muscles of respiration. The aims of this study are to: 1) Investigate the activity of expiratory muscle strength training (EMT) in patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD), 2) Determine the effect of increased expiratory force generation on breathing, cough magnitude, speech production, and swallowing, 3) Determine the effect of increased expiratory force generation on the patient's perception of speech change, 4) Determine the effect of Dopamine-replacement therapy (Parkinson's medications) on breathing, coughing, speaking, and swallowing measures.
The purpose of this research study is to test the usefulness of external magnetic stimulation (EMS) for treating the motor, cognitive, and neuropsychiatric symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). Participants with Parkinson's disease will be recruited at the PADRECC of the Philadelphia VA Medical Center. Enrolled participants will be randomly assigned to receive either active external magnetic stimulation or fake stimulation. The external magnetic stimulation is delivered by wearing a helmet that is embedded with many small circuits which produce a very small magnetic field around the head. The helmet is to be worn daily for two minutes immediately before bedtime for three months in a row. The helmet is for investigational use only and has not been approved for use by the FDA.
This study is to follow-up with workers from a local company that had exposure to TCE that may have symptoms of Parkinson's disease. We hope to learn more about TCE exposure and Parkinson's disease. Eligible participants will be those who participated in previous research study entitled "Survey of Selected Exposures and Neurologic Symptoms in an Industrial Population"
To investigate the efficacy and the safety of ropinirole PR/XR tablets to ropinirole immediate release (IR) tablets with advanced Parkinson's disease in conjunction with L-dopa in a double-blind, parallel group comparison study.
Freezing of gait (FOG) is a common yet poorly understood motor symptom in persons with Parkinson's disease (PD). Previous studies have shown that bilateral uncoordinated gait and gait asymmetry are related to FOG, and that intensive treadmill training in PD patients can improve gait. However, no group has yet studied the effect of robot-assisted gait training (RAGT) on FOG. The primary aim of this study is to collect pilot data on the effect of robot-assisted gait training in reducing episodes of freezing in PD. Subjects with Parkinson's disease that experience freezing of gait will be recruited and enrolled following informed consent and screening for eligibility. Each of the 10 training session will last approximately one hour. Neurological evaluations, testing of gait parameters, and quality of life assessments will be conducted. Participants will also be asked to return for 1- and 3-month post-intervention assessments to see if the training has any lasting effects. Approximately 10-20 subjects will be enrolled, and the study will last up to 6 months. Robot-assisted gait training will be conducted with the Lokomat (a treadmill with supplemental robot-assistance for moving the hip and knee). We will monitor changes in freezing by conducting various assessments. There are approximately 1 million Americans with PD in the US. PD is a significant cause for reduced functional ability and quality of life, progressive disability. Patients with PD with FOG have indicated that this is one of their most disturbing symptoms, as there are no effective treatments. Therefore it is important that additional and alternative interventions for FOG be tested and developed.
The purpose of this study is to gather observational data on an already FDA-approved implantation technique for deep brain stimulation (DBS) in which the entire surgery is performed within an MRI scanner ("interventional MRI", or iMRI). With this surgical technique, the patient is fully asleep (under general anesthesia) during DBS implantation. The standard method for the placement of deep brain stimulators does not use MRI during the actual DBS placement. The standard method involves placement of a rigid frame on the patient's head, performance of a short MRI scan, transport to the operating room, placement of the DBS electrodes in the operating room, and return to the MRI suite for another MR to confirm correct electrode placement. In the standard method, the patient must be awake for 2-4 hours in the operating room to have "brain mapping" performed, where the brain target is confirmed by passing "microelectrodes" (thin wires) into the brain to record its electrical activity. In the standard method, general anesthesia is not required. With the iMRI technique, the surgery is guided entirely by MRI images performed multiple times as the DBS electrode is advanced. This eliminates the need for the patient to be awake, and eliminates the need for passing microelectrodes into the brain before placing the permanent DBS electrode.
The purpose of this study is to determine if low level magnetic fields may help to relieve symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
Apathy usually refers to a set of behavioural, emotional and cognitive features as a reduced interest and participation in main activities of daily life, a lack of initiative, a trend toward an early withdrawal from started activities, an indifference and a flattening of affect. We have validated a new specific scale (Lille Apathy Rating Scale, LARS) in order to detect and quantify apathy in Parkinson's disease (PD). Apathy was shown to be frequent in PD with a prevalence of 32%. It has suggested that the medial frontal and limbic cholinergic deficits may underlie apathy in neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease (AD). Such a hypothesis is supported by recent evidence indicating the beneficial effects of cholinesterase inhibitors on neuropsychiatric symptoms, mainly apathy, in AD patients. As the efficacy of rivastigmine on cognition has also been shown in PD, we aimed to assess with a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, multicenter trial, the efficacy and acceptability of a 6 months treatment with rivastigmine on apathy in 60 patients with PD without dementia. The primary end point will be the LARS score and the secondary end points will be the cognitive, behavioural and motor symptoms of PD. Two add-on studies will be proposed: first the measure of choline and glutamate peaks on Magnetic Resonance Spectrometry focused on the structures implicated in apathy in order to give insights in the physiopathological mechanisms of the treatment. Secondly, the recording of the REM sleep behavior disorders in relation with the cholinergic part of the pedunculopontine nucleus. Regarding that apathy could be one of the first steps toward PD dementia, treating very early could have substantial implications on the patients and their caregiver.