Active clinical trials for "Dementia"

The treatment of Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD) continue to raise difficult problems. Both the pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic therapies often fail to achieve the expected results. The aim of this study is to assess the short- and long-term efficacy of an intervention, the Special Care Unit for patients with BPSD (SCU-B), already implemented in some countries but not validated so far, as well as its cost-effectiveness

The purpose of this study is to develop small molecule radio-labeled probes of beta-amyloid, to be used with positron emission tomography (PET) for early detection and treatment monitoring of Alzheimer disease (AD). The study hypothesis is that PET imaging of small molecule probes, in the form of novel fluorescent dyes with radioactive labels, will demonstrate cerebral patterns in patients with AD that are distinct from those of age-matched persons who are cognitively intact.

Aims To determine whether the 4 Mountains test of allocentric (i.e. viewpoint-independent) spatial memory, and tests of memory for a recent experience (e.g. watching a brief video), to diagnose the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. We operationalise this as the ability of these tests to predict whether or not an individual progresses from having some cognitive difficulties (diagnosed as 'mild cognitive impairment' MCI) to subsequently developing Alzheimer's disease up to two years later. To assess whether the ability to diagnose early stages of Alzheimer's disease can be improved by combining the scores from different memory tests, from questionnaires assessing spatial and social aspects of everyday life. To assess whether scores on the spatial memory test are correlated with patients' reports of their everyday spatial memory, using a newly-developed questionnaire. Outcome Measures Primary study objective: To determine the ability of allocentric spatial and episodic memory test performance to predict progression from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer's disease. Secondary outcome measure To assess to what extent social characteristics of everyday life may impact upon progression from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer's disease. To correlate allocentric spatial test performance with real-world spatial ability as assessed through a novel spatial questionnaire.

This prospective study aims: to compare cognitive performance in different clinical groups of participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild dementia [Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Vascular Cognitive Impairment (VCI) and Fronto-temporal Dementia (FTD)] to determine whether scores reveal differential profiles between the groups, to demonstrate differences in imaging markers between different dementia syndromes and healthy volunteers using ultra high-field MRI at 7T.

In this observational study, the investigators aim to evaluate whether changes in the retinal and choroidal circulation, as assessed by Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and the quantification of retinal amyloid deposits using auto-fluorescence and hyperspectral retinal imaging, are correlated with the degree and subtype of dementia and with the presence or absence of a positive amyloid scan. For this purpose, patients with established Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and Lewy Body Dementia (LBD), as well as amyloid positive and amyloid negative Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and aged matched cognitively intact patients will be included in this cross-sectional study.

Drugs with anticholinergic properties are commonly prescribed to older persons despite growing evidence of their significant adverse effects. However, limited data are available concerning their contribution to time of onset of delirium. This study aimed to determine the potential association of higher anticholinergic burden to early-onset of delirium superimposed dementia in the older adult.

A 12-month pilot study will be comprised of two groups of people diagnosed with mild Alzheimer's disease and related dementia for a total of 80 senior subjects. Subjects will be randomly assigned to two groups: Group 1 users will play games with and administered by Ryan, 2-3 times a week and 30-minutes per day. Group 2 (Active Control Group) will play solitary games and activities but will have to interaction with Ryan. The team will measure the changes and improvement in the social/emotional well-being of these two groups and eventual changes in the cognitive/memory functions of elderly people living in the similar environment.

The present study aims at combining biochemical methods with various types of imaging techniques to identify the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The main interest is to find markers associated with the very early steps in the pathology of this disease. The investigators shall thus screen for i) molecules in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma specific for AD, and ii) brain imaging markers (e.g. MRI and PET) that correlate to detailed clinical assessments. Biomarkers of interest would then be useful to: Enable accurate detection of the disease early on. Such biomarkers need to specifically reflect the very early pathophysiology of AD and distinguish it from disorders with similar symptomatology, such as other types of dementia and major depression. The sensitivity and specificity of these biomarkers in combination with clinical assessment should be of at least 90%. Enable prediction of the course of events of the disease, such as the disease rate in individual patients. Biomarkers that can predict the pattern of future symptoms will be extremely valuable. Allow monitoring of early effects of new disease-modifying therapies (so-called surrogate biomarkers). Currently clinical therapeutic trials for AD require large patient groups together with long-term treatment. Both size of the groups and treatment time will be reduced with the help of surrogate biomarkers. Study the pathogenesis of the disease. Biomarkers can be used to investigate in detail early alterations in AD patients. For instance, changes in the levels of certain molecules in CSF together with genetic predisposition could then be correlated to clinical signs and changes detectable by brain imaging. This can lead to identification of new therapeutic targets that could easily be monitored in future trials.

The purpose of this study is to develop and test an educational intervention for dementia in primary care, combining timely diagnosis, psychosocial support around the period of diagnosis and management concordant with guidelines.

The purpose of this research is to develop the "DQoL-OC", a unique questionnaire to evaluate the quality of life of people aged 60 or above providing care for a family member with Alzheimer's disease or other related dementia at home in the UK. This questionnaire is aimed at allowing researchers, health and social professionals, as well as the older family carers themselves, to quantify the impact caring in different aspects life, for the purposes of economic evaluation or implementation and evaluation of interventions. The results from this study will also help us to understand better the aspects that affect carers' quality of life and well-being, which may guide future policies and the support provided to older family carers in the future. The DQoL-OC is being developed in two parts. The first part is now completed and was carried out through focus groups with older family carers for discussions about important aspects related to their quality of life and well-being in order to create the items of the new questionnaire. Its preliminary version contains 100 questions about the practical aspects of care and caregiving, carers' feelings and concerns and satisfaction with life and with the caring role. The second part of the DQoL-OC development is currently being carried out and aims to evaluate its validity and reliability for use with older family carers and to reduce it into a smaller number of items. About 300 older family carers are invited to answer individually the DQoL-OC and other similar questionnaires for these purposes. About 25 participants taking part in this study are invited to answer the same questions with an interval of two weeks in order to allow us to compare the results and its stability over this period of time.