Active clinical trials for "Alcoholism"

This study uses positron emission tomography (PET) scanning to study how serotonin works in alcoholics. Serotonin is a chemical that allows brain cells to communicate. There is evidence that people with alcoholism have altered serotonin; their brains begin to make and break down serotonin more slowly than people who do not drink. PET scans use radioactive substances injected into the body. A special camera detects the radiation emitted by the radioactive fluid and a computer processes the radioactivity into images of the brain, which show the activity of brain chemicals like serotonin. People with alcohol dependency may participate in this study. Candidates are screened with a medical history, including questions about alcohol and drug use, physical examination, blood tests, breath alcohol tests, electrocardiogram (ECG), urine test for illicit drugs and, for women, a pregnancy test, and a stool test for hidden blood. They also undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the brain and complete questionnaires on their alcohol and drug history. Participants undergo the following tests and procedures: Diet low in tryptophan. Tryptophan is an amino acid from which serotonin is made. Brain MRI before starting the study to make sure brain structure is normal. Lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to collect a small sample of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). A local anesthetic is given and a needle is inserted in the space between the bones (vertebrae) in the lower back. About 2 tablespoons of fluid is collected through the needle. Arterial catheter (plastic tube) placed in an artery in the wrist area for drawing blood samples. The skin is numbed with a local anesthetic for placement of the catheter. Intravenous (IV) catheter placed in a vein for injecting the radioactive isotope used in the PET scan. Two PET scans - baseline and active. Amino acid drink (orange flavored) before the active PET scan. The drink lowers tryptophan levels. Amino acid capsules - 23 amino acid capsules are taken with the orange drink. Genetic analysis to help understand serotonin and alcoholism. A blood sample is collected for DNA testing and possibly establishment of a cell line (collection of cells that are grown in the laboratory from an original tissue specimen) for other genetic studies. Patients are admitted to the intensive care unit for the lumbar puncture and arterial line procedures. After these procedures are complete, the patient is transferred by stretcher to the PET suite for scanning. During the two scans, blood samples are drawn from the artery and a small amount of CSF is collected each hour of the study. Each PET scanning session lasts about 3 hours. The study lasts 36 hours, during which time the subject remains in bed.

Scurvy, or latent scurvy, may be underestimated in developed countries, but continue to be described, often as case report. Little is known about the prevalence of vitamin C deficiency in a specific population as withdrawal alcoholics and about his possible consequences, latent scurvy. In an observational study, the investigators will evaluate prospectively the prevalence of vitamin C deficiency in alcoholic withdrawal patients, its correlation with latent scurvy, mainly tiredness and weakness, and the evolution of the latter at three months after oral vitamin C supplementation.

Chronic cannabis consumption has been associated with poor psychosocial functioning that could be associated to cerebellar dysfunction. The cerebellum has a relevant role in adaptation processes and has a high density of cannabinoid 1 receptor (CB1R). Implicit motor learning is a cerebellum dependent function that can be measured with a visuomotor rotation task (VRT). The project aims to identify a sensitive and specific biomarker of cerebellum dysfunction in chronic cannabis users. The investigators would like to demonstrate that the visuomotor rotation paradigm is valid to measure and quantify such a dysfunction. A longitudinal prospective study with a 3 month follow-up is proposed. 3 groups will be included: 1) chronic cannabis users; 2) individuals with an alcohol use disorder; and 3) healthy controls. All groups will be matched by sex and age. Forty individuals will be included in each group. Individuals will be assessed at baseline, at first month and at 3-months of follow-up. Sociodemographic and clinical data will be recorded. Information on cannabis consumption will be registered using an App. Participants will do the visuomotor rotation task and answer three questionnaires: the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory, the Scale for the assessment and rating of ataxia (SARA) and the Harris tests for lateral dominance. The biomarker developed by this project will facilitate the detection of cerebellar alterations in chronic cannabis users, and will permit to quantify and monitor such alteration over time. The team's intention is to patent the proposed model and disseminate it in order to use it in clinical practice at both primary and specialized health centres.

The proposed project will provide data concerning dating and sexual interactions that occur on Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in addition to piloting a sexual assault prevention program through the use of social norms and bystander intervention concepts. The investigators will be able to use data and feedback gained from this research to help reduce rates of sexual assault in the military by providing a sexual assault prevention program tailored to at risk male Soldiers that can be disseminated across military posts.

The primary objective is to investigate differences in the alcohol consumption pattern between alcohol addicts receiving conventional treatment and those who receive a combination of conventional treatment and TripleA.

Ethanol exposure during pregnancy is associated with adverse perinatal outcomes resulting in high healthcare costs. Primary care centers whose attends low risk women will be randomized to apply a motivational intervention program to the mothers.

Addiction is a public health issue that affects nearly 30% of French people according to INSEE. For several years now, the investigators have known that sport is a real help in the fight against addictions, with recent medical authorization to prescribe physical activities. A study from August 2016 claims that regular physical activity may offset the harmful effects of alcohol. (1) Based on the answers given by 36,370 Britons between 1994 and 2006, the researchers showed the existence of a link between the practice of 150 minutes of physical activity per week and the decrease in deaths linked to consumption. alcohol. These results, compared to 18 other studies (2), reveal the benefits of physical activity in the management of addictions. But what about current practice and addictions and sports practice in general ?

The Soberlink Cellular device, in its original packaging, along with the QuickStart guide will be provided to the end user in a simulated home use environment or by Rx in clinic. The patient labeling will be in the format intended for distribution. Ten (10) Rx subjects will be provided instruction for use in clinic for the Soberlink Cellular device while an additional ten (10) Rx subjects will be provided instruction for use in clinic for the Soberlink Cellular device and Sober Sky web portal. An additional ten (10) simulated home use subjects will be provided instruction for use for the Soberlink Cellular device while an additional ten (10) simulated home use subjects will be provided instruction for use in clinic for the Soberlink Cellular device and Sober Sky web portal. All subjects will be provided with a post-test questionnaire on how to operate the device. The post-test questionnaire will collect information regarding device use. The device's use will be compared with identified risks to determine if the percentage of failures is within the study protocol success criteria. Additionally, measurable usability criteria for specific, critical steps will be evaluated.

Baclofen is an agonist of the amino-butyricum B (GABA-B) receptor used for a long time in neurology to treat spastic contracture. Several clinical studies have suggested its efficacy in the treatment of alcohol-dependence in low, even in case of cirrhosis and high dose. French drug authority has authorized its use in 2012 whereas the l'European Association for the Study of the Liver recommends to perform additional studies on this indication. The goal of this observational study is to evaluate the use of baclofen for alcohol-dependence in real life care as well its efficacy.

The main aim of this research is to investigate whether the use of cognitive event-related potentials is an interesting way to identify subgroups of alcoholic patients displaying specific clinical symptoms and cognitive disturbances in order to help clinicians to adapt the pharmaceutical approach to the specific needs of the patient. Nowadays, a fundamental question remains: How can investigators identify among alcoholic patients who are likely to benefit from the use of naltrexone, acamprosate or baclofen, and those who are not? The goal of this application is to identify subgroups of alcoholic patients displaying specific clinical symptoms and cognitive disturbances linked to consistent biological markers. Investigators propose that this might help clinicians improve their treatment of alcoholic patients by focusing therapy on individual cognitive disturbances, and by adapting pharmaceutical approaches to the identified brain pathophysiology. In other words, investigators suggest that specifying the cognitive profile of each individual patient may help clinicians in their choice of a suitable drug program. To reach this aim, investigators suggest that a joined investigation of early (P100) and late (P300) brain event-related potentials (ERP) components may help create subgroups of alcoholic patients with homogenous cognitive deficits, and that this ''classification'' might help optimize drug treatment. More precisely, investigators suggest that relapse in chronic alcoholism is partly due to (1) the preferential attentional allocation to alcohol-related information (e.g. the sight of a bottle of wine). As the P100 component has already been shown to be enhanced by motivationally relevant stimuli, investigators think that this component is well-suited for this purpose; and (2) the impairment of the inhibitory control, which is necessary to suppress an inappropriate prepotent response. The Go/No-Go task is a simple procedure, which has already proven to be highly reliable to evidence a deficit in inhibitory control processing in alcoholics, indexed by a No-Go P3 of decreased amplitude and less anterior topography. In summary, investigators have two simple experimental procedures, an oddball task and a Go/No-Go task, which can be easily carried out in clinical settings, and which can provide interesting data concerning, respectively, the existence of an implicit attentional bias towards alcohol-cues and the deficit of inhibitory control towards a prepotent response, through the observation of well-known and well-described cognitive ERP components, i.e. the P100 and P3b components. The main goal of this project will be to test the effect of different drug medications on both attentional (P100) and inhibitory (P300) deficits observable in alcoholic patients.