Active clinical trials for "Stroke"

The purpose of this study is to test a new educational program for families taking care of persons who have had a stroke. Caregivers are asked what they think of the TASK program and how to make it better. After getting the TASK program, their ability to provide care will be compared with a group that did not receive the TASK program.

The purpose of this study is to explore an alternative approach that emphasizes task specificity and treadmill training for ambulation training of these patients.

To examine the epidemiology of renal disease and its relationship to cardiovascular disease.

To examine in postmenopausal women the potential interactions of hormone replacement therapy with other blood clotting factors on the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack or stroke.

This study will try to elucidate learning processes associated with motor training in the weak arm of stroke patients compared with healthy controls. Results from previous clinical trials indicate that training may enhance motor function in healthy volunteers, and perhaps also in stroke patients, even more than 1 year after the stroke. Normal, healthy volunteers and stroke patients 18 years of age and older may be eligible for this study. Study subjects will have a physical examination and participate in 6 additional clinic visits-training and testing sessions on study days 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, and a final testing session on day 12. During these sessions, they will perform a series of motor tasks, including writing, picking up objects, turning cards, stacking checkers and moving cans, which will be timed and videotaped. Each session will be divided into blocks of 10 trials for each task, separated by 2-minute rest periods. Before and after training on days 1, 2, 5 and 12, subjects will have transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to determine brain changes associated with learning a motor task. For this procedure, the patient is seated in a comfortable chair, and an insulated wire coil is placed on the scalp or skin. A brief electrical current is passed through the coil, creating a magnetic pulse that stimulates the brain. These pulses generate very small electrical currents in the brain cortex, briefly disrupting the function of the brain cells in the stimulated area. The stimulation may cause muscle twitching or tingling in the scalp, face, or limb. During the stimulation, the subject may be asked to slightly tense certain muscles or perform other simple actions. Electrical nerve stimulation and electromyography will be done to record muscle responses to stimulation. A nerve is stimulated by placing wires on the skin over the nerve and passing a brief electrical current between the wires. Electromyography involves taping metal electrodes to the skin over the muscle. Before and after each session, subjects' muscle strength will be tested with a pinch gauge. They will also be asked to make a mark on a line drawn on paper, to rate their test performance and levels of attentiveness and fatigue.

To test the hypothesis that increased risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, and cancer is related to diets high in saturated fat, animal protein, and hydrogenated vegetable oil, and low in polyunsaturated fat, fiber, vitamins A, C, and E, calcium, selenium, and chromium.

To examine associations between various dietary elements and the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke.

To evaluate the cardiovascular effects of postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy and the suspected beneficial effects on myocardial infarction and stroke.

To assess the relationship of community socioeconomic (SE) structure to cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality trends in the United States.

To examine markers of underlying chronic inflammation and infection as potential risk factors for future myocardial infarction (MI), stroke (CVA), and venous thromboembolism (VTE) in plasma samples collected at baseline from healthy participants in the Physicians' Health Study (PHS).