Active clinical trials for "Alzheimer Disease"

Older sexual and gender minority (SGM) patients are at risk for receiving inequitable end-of-life care; those with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) are at particularly high risk. Failure to collect and integrate sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data to identify patients' informal support systems may have adverse health consequences for SGM older adults, particularly for those dependent on informal caregivers to provide in-home support and assist with activities of daily living. The goal of this K01 is develop a novel training for hospice staff in person-centered communication that includes SOGI data collection to promote authentic end-of-life care for SGM patients and their caregivers.

The aim of this study is to find out whether a new image analysis technique called Cortical Disarray Measurement (CDM) could be used to help better diagnose Alzheimer's disease. This study will see whether changes on CDM can be used to identify Alzheimer's disease from a group of people living with memory and thinking problems. The study will also explore how CDM relates to changes in memory or thinking over time.

The purpose of this study is to assess whether it is possible to carry out a research project with a nutritional intervention in senior's residence. Life in a small community is very different and above all unique, which could be an asset in a research setting.

Autobiographical memory is diminished in patients with Alzheimer's Disease and those with behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia, and research has focused on the hampered ability of patients in retrieving specific memories. However, this study proposes a detailed methodology to provide a qualitative analysis of autobiographical specificity.

Alzheimers disease and cerebral small vessel disease have a considerably overlap in patients and have common risk factors. The diseases are difficult to separate in individual patients and we hypothesize that a reduced cerebral vascular reserve may be a measurement of small vessel disease independent of Alzheimers disease. Patients with presumed Alzheimers disease (n=20), cerebral small vessel disease (n=20) and healthy age-matched subjects (n=15) are examined with quantitative [15O]H2O positron emission tomography (PET) for measurements of brain perfusion before and after diamox infusion that dilates cerebral vessels. Additional [15O]H2O PET scans of the heart allows for a non-invasive input function so the cerebral vascular reserve can be measured quantitatively.

The diagnosis of neurocognitive disorders such as early Alzheimer's disease (AD) or primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is particularly difficult and constantly evolving, often leading to diagnostic erraticity. However, several studies have shown that graphic parameters are affected in people with moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease. The use of new technologies in the study and analysis of the abilities of people with neurodegenerative diseases is increasingly recommended. The use of a digital tablet with a stylus makes it possible to objectivize the kinematic parameters of writing (pressure, inclination, speed, jerk, time of writing task) and thus would allow a low-cost diffusion of this technology in particular by including it in already existing screening batteries. The overall objective of the project is to characterize and compare the graphical markers of a writing task, either language-based (writing words, non-words, sentences) or non-language-based (drawing shapes), in patients with PPA, early-stage Alzheimer's disease (i.e., at the stage of minor neurocognitive disorders and major neurocognitive disorders at the beginning of the disease), and in people with no cognitive disorders.

Diseases of dementia are chronic, untreatable, and cause a massive burden of morbidity. In this proposal, we seek to tackle the problem of better, earlier, and more efficient diagnosis using deuterium metabolic imaging (DMI). The study is divided in two sub-studies: 1) optimization and simplification of DMI protocols, and 2) a cross-sectional study of DMI in Alzheimer's patients and healthy controls.

The purpose of the Alzheimer's Prevention Registry GeneMatch program is to identify a large group of people interested in participating in research studies or clinical trials based in part on their genetic background. This genetic information will be used to match interested individuals to studies, providing a recruitment resource to the Alzheimer's scientific community. Interested individuals should visit www.endALZnow.org/GeneMatch to join the GeneMatch program.

There is lack of information on the risk factors of accelerated cognitive decline in older people with Alzheimer disease (AD). The extent of neurodegeneration and white matter disease has been reported to be important factors. In addition there may be biomarkers e.g. inflammatory cytokines that can contribute to cognitive decline. The impact of care arrangement and physical activity may also be important. Insulin signaling is impaired in Alzheimer disease (AD). We therefore propose to perform a cohort study of older people with AD. This will be based on an on-going AD registry which was designed to identify genetic biomarkers for AD. Detailed neurocognitive tests and lifestyle information are available. In addition, volumetric MRI brain scans were performed in all AD subjects. The hypothesis is that MRI brain volumes, serum biomarkers, physical activity, physical functioning are independently associated with cognitive decline in older people with AD. The objective is to identify risk factors of accelerated cognitive decline so that preventive measures can be designed to delay dependency in AD.

Cognitive neurodegenerative diseases are a major public health issue. At present, the diagnosis of certainty is still based on anatomopathological analyses. Even if the diagnostic tools available to clinicians have made it possible to improve probabilistic diagnosis during the patient's lifetime, there are still too many diagnostic errors and sub-diagnostic in this field. The arrival of biomarkers has made it possible to reduce these diagnostic errors, which were of the order of 25 to 30%. This high error rate is due to different parameters. These diseases are numerous and often present common symptoms due to the fact that common brain structures are affected. These diseases evolve progressively over several years and their early diagnosis, when the symptoms are discrete, makes them even more difficult to diagnose at this stage. In addition, co-morbidities are common in the elderly, further complicating the diagnosis of these diseases. At present, the only cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers that are routinely used for the biological diagnosis of neurodegenerative cognitive pathologies are those specific to Alzheimer's disease: Aβ42, Aβ40, Tau-total and Phospho-Tau. These biomarkers represent an almost indispensable tool in the diagnosis of dementia. It is therefore important to determine whether Alzheimer's biomarkers can be disrupted in other neurodegenerative cognitive pathologies, but also to find biomarkers specific to these different pathologies by facilitating the implementation of clinical studies which will thus make it possible to improve their diagnosis.