Active clinical trials for "Alzheimer Disease"

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by neuritic plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, and neuronal cell loss. Amyloid plaques are believed to play an integral role in AD. Elevated levels of Aβ in the brain are correlated with cognitive decline. There are no approved ways to measure amyloid load in humans. Several compounds are under investigation. All of these compounds use radioactive chemical tags for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. The most promising compound is 11C-PIB, or Pittsburgh Compound-B. This compound can be injected and a PET scan performed. This allows doctors to see the amyloid plaques in the brain, and to use this information to look at other types of dementia to see if there are differences and/or similarities in the plaques. We will recruit a total of 30 subjects, 10 from each of the following three diagnostic categories: frontotemporal dementia (FTD), Alzheimer's disease, and normal volunteers. All subjects will be given an [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose or FDG-PET scan (if they haven't had one in the past) and a PIB-PET scan. The overall objective of this project is to study the biodistribution of 11C-PIB using PET imaging in normal elderly volunteers and relevant patient groups.

Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD) (such as aggression, restlessness, agitation, wandering, anxiety, depression) are common to most people with dementia at some point during their illness and represent an aspect of dementia particularly difficult to manage. There is growing attention to the therapeutic effects of natural environments on people's health. Exposure to natural environments (seeing greenery, hearing outside natural sounds) has been shown to enhance wellbeing, reduce depression, anxiety and stress levels, and decrease hospital length-of-stay for inpatients. Virtual Reality (VR) is a novel technology that uses a Head Mounted Display (HMD) to generate simulated immersive experiences that elicit perceptions and behaviors similar to those in real life and can make one feel as though they are truly present in another place. Based on scientific research, previous studies, and expert consultation, we created a library of VR experiences depicting calming nature scenes designed specifically for people with dementia. The objectives of this RCT are 1) to evaluate the effects of VR-therapy on BPSD and the hospital care experience of in-patients with dementia and/or delirium admitted to an acute care hospital, 2) to determine the usability, tolerability, and safety of VR-therapy for patients with dementia and/or delirium admitted to acute care, 3) determine the effect of VR-therapy on quality of life for patients with dementia and/or delirium admitted to acute care and 4) to explore a framework for introducing non-pharmacological therapies in acute care hospitals. Our hypotheses are 1) VR-therapy helps manage BPSD (e.g. decrease anxiety, aggression, depression, violent behaviors, incidents of wandering), and may decrease the amount and/or frequency of sedatives and anti-depressant medication administered and/or the number of incidents that require restraints, and the number of falls, in people with dementia and/or delirium admitted to an acute care hospital. 2) VR-therapy will improve the quality of life for individuals with dementia and/or delirium admitted to an acute care hospital (operationalized through conducting a validated instrument to measure quality of life for people with dementia). 3) VR-therapy is safe and feasible to administer to individuals with dementia and/or delirium admitted to an acute care hospital (with assistance from their circle of care members and/or caregivers).

While verbal memory is quickly reached in the wake of Alzheimer's disease, the musical memory remains preserved until a late stage of the disease. This observation encouraged the development of music-based therapies in the management of neurocognitive and behavioral disorders that characterize Alzheimer's disease. In order to develop rehabilitation programs that effectively target cognitive functions to stimulate, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms underlying this beneficial effect of music on cognition.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether treatment with single and multiple oral doses of AZD1446 for 1 week will have effect on Quantified Electroencephalography and Event-Related Potentials in patients with Alzheimers Disease. The total treatment period is 9 weeks, divided into 5 equally long sub-periods of 7 days and 4 wash-out periods of 7 days each.

This is a multicenter, open-label, long-term extension study in male and female patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's Disease (AD) who must have completed one of the following studies: AAB-001-201 or AAB-001-102. All patients enrolled in Study AAB-001-251 will receive infusions of AAB-001 (bapineuzumab), including patients randomized to placebo in Study 201 and 102. Approximately 30 study sites in the US will be involved. Each patient's participation may vary from 3 months up to 84 months depending on the date of enrollment in this study. AAB-001 (bapineuzumab) is a humanized monoclonal antibody, which binds to and potentially clears beta amyloid peptide, and is designed to provide antibodies to beta amyloid directly to the patient.

Although saliva is not generally regarded as one of the most interesting biological fluids, the fact that it can be sampled using simple, noninvasive methods makes it an interesting alternative to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or blood for diagnostic purposes. The use of salivary diagnostics is moreover increasing these past 10 years, as shown with the abundant literature as well as various clinical trials. Saliva collection which is now well standardized has the major advantage of being simple and non-invasive. An original study had already discussed possible changes in the salivary composition in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The feasibility and the potential interest of measuring saliva concentration of the amyloid peptides was reported in an article published recently. The prospect of using saliva for early diagnosis and monitoring of AD is thus of major interest and the objective of the current trial.

The primary objective of this study is to test the hypothesis that Nuedexta (20/10) administered orally will reduce Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA) frequency and severity (CNS-Lability Scale and PLACS), with satisfactory safety and high tolerability in patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The primary objective will be evaluated using a study endpoint at 1, 13, 26 weeks after initiation of treatment. The secondary objective of this study is to evaluate the benefit of treatment with Nuedexta (20/10) on cognition and functionality as demonstrated in the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), Trail making A and B, Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) logical memory and delayed recall, Controlled Oral Word Association (COWA), Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study Activities of Daily Living Inventory (ADCSADL) and the 11-item Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive subscore (ADAS-Cog11).

[F-18]T808 is being developed as a diagnostic radiopharmaceutical for PET imaging of the human brain.

[F-18]T807 is being developed as a diagnostic radiopharmaceutical for PET imaging of the human brain.

The primary purpose of the protocol is to demonstrate that the use of music therapy may make it possible to discontinue at least one of neuroleptic treatment in patients with AD or related symptoms complicated by behavioral disorders such as agitation and aggressiveness evaluated using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). The study hypothesis is that music therapy may have a positive impact on patients with AD complicated by behavioral disorders by reducing the intensity of oppositional behaviour and aggressiveness and allowing a diminution of neuroleptic treatment.