Active clinical trials for "Fatigue"

RATIONALE: Collecting information about the effect of hematologic cancer and its treatment on quality of life may help doctors learn more about the disease and plan the best treatment. PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying quality of life in younger leukemia and lymphoma survivors.

Background: People with many different diseases have symptoms of fatigue, which is a general sense of tiredness; however, the causes are not fully understood. Fatigue symptoms may be related to a person s level of fitness, health, and blood chemistries. Researchers are studying the potential role of plasma cytokines (signaling molecules) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis (part of the neuroendocrine system that controls stress) functioning in symptoms of fatigue. Objectives: To characterize the symptoms of fatigue in healthy individuals. To collect information on fatigue, pain, depression, stress, sleepiness, and quality of life from healthy adults of all ages. To compare results obtained from people with various illnesses to better understand possible causes of fatigue that are associated with those diseases. Eligibility: Physically and mentally healthy volunteers18 years of age or older who can speak and read the English language. Exclusion criteria include individuals with a disease or condition causing significant fatigue (congestive heart failure, cancer, or sleep disorders), individuals taking medicines that cause fatigue (beta blockers, diuretics, or narcotics), and individuals who have a major psychiatric condition (major depression, anxiety disorder, or schizophrenia). The following individuals may not participate: those who have two more alcoholic drinks per day, who use illicit drugs, or who drink more than 4 cups of coffee, 8 cups of soda or tea, or similar amounts of other caffeine-containing beverages a day, or eat more than 1 pound of chocolate per day; and individuals who worked evenings or night shifts in the past month. Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding are not eligible. Design: Participants must make two outpatient visits to the Clinical Center. Each visit will last 5 hours and participants must refrain from smoking and consuming alcohol and caffeine for at least 24 hours. During the first study visit, researchers will conduct the following tests: Psychiatric interview, medical history, pregnancy test, and drug test. Urine test to measure the levels of stress hormones. Questionnaires that measure fatigue, pain, depression, stress, daytime sleepiness, and activity. Physical fitness test, including strength tests, walking tests, and physical activity monitoring. Before the second study visit, patients must refrain from smoking and consuming caffeine and alcohol for at least 24 hours and have nothing, even water, by mouth after midnight. During the second study visit, the following tests will be conducted: Stress hormone test (participant will receive a cortisol-releasing hormone). Four intravenous blood draws to determine cytokine profiles, gene expression, and levels of stress hormones (immune and gentic analysis). Participants will receive a small financial compensation for participation in the study.

The specific aims of this translational, interdisciplinary, multi-center, international research study with 300 Lung cancer patients are to: Aim 1 Explore how the patients experience the transfer between different locations and between different levels of care at the same location and how they experienced coming home. Aim 2 Explore lung cancer patients' symptoms, symptom clusters, and changes in symptoms and symptom clusters over time. Aim 3 Explore interaction between lung cancers patients' symptoms, symptom clusters, health related quality of life and social support.

This study will examine abnormalities in mitochondria (energy-producing machinery of cells) and in genes related to mitochondria in the blood cells, muscle, and fat of HIV-positive patients who are taking nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) and in patients not currently taking HIV medications, and compare the results to healthy volunteers. Many patients with HIV infection take NRTIs to help control the infection. These medications may damage cell mitochondria, possibly causing side effects such as fatigue. This study will explore the relationship between changes in mitochondria and related genes and patient reports of energy level, mood and quality of life. Healthy volunteers and HIV-infected patients between 18 and 55 years of age may be eligible for this study. Healthy volunteers must test negative for the HIV antibody. HIV-positive patients must have been diagnosed positive for at least 1 year. Patients who are taking antiretroviral therapy must have been taking the same drug regimen (with at least two NTRIs and no protease inhibitors) for at least 3 months. HIV positive patients not taking antiretroviral medication must not have had antiretroviral therapy for at least 1 year. Candidates are screened with a medical history, brief physical examination, blood and urine tests, and questionnaires related to mood and energy. Qualified volunteers will undergo the following procedures during three or four study visits: Visit 1 Complete history and physical examination, blood tests, and questionnaires about energy level, mood, and quality of life. Visit 2 Muscle and fat biopsy: Before the biopsy, blood is drawn to check blood counts and to test for pregnancy in women who can become pregnant. The biopsy is done on an outpatient basis in the operating room. The site of the biopsy (an area on the upper arm or upper leg) is numbed with an injection under the skin. A 1-inch incision is made over the muscle to be biopsied and a small sample of muscle tissue and small sample of fat are removed. The incision is then closed and bandaged. Following the biopsy, you will be monitored for about 4 hours in the clinic. Strenuous physical activity should be restricted in the week following biopsy to allow healing. Visit 3 Examination of biopsy site and possible apheresis: The biopsy site is examined for healing. Apheresis may be scheduled for this visit or for an extra visit between the biopsy and the final visit. This procedure for obtaining white blood cells for study is optional. For apheresis, blood is withdrawn from a needle placed in a vein in the arm and the white cells are separated from the rest of the blood. The white cells are extracted and the red cells and plasma are then returned to the body through a second needle.

Major depression represents a major public health problem worldwide and in the U.S. Fifteen percent of the U.S. population has depression at some point in life (40 million individuals). The condition is more common in women, occurring at a female to male ratio of 5:2. Presently, 6-8% of all outpatients in primary care meet the diagnostic criteria for major depression. Fifteen percent of untreated patients with depression will commit suicide. Most of the people committing suicide are depressed. Researchers believe that by the year 2020 suicide will be the 10th most common cause of death in the U.S. In addition to mortality due to suicide, depression is also associated with other severe health conditions. Areas of the brain (hippocampus) begin to deteriorate, heart disease, and decreased bone mineral density (osteoporosis) are all associated with major depression. Researchers have believed for years that hormones controlled by the hypothalmus, pituitary gland, and adrenal gland (commonly referred to as the HPA axis or system) are in some way associated with psychiatric illnesses like depression. According to previous studies, researchers have theorized that increased activity of the HPA axis is associated with depressed patients with typical melancholic features. Melancholia refers to the feelings of anhedonia (absence of pleasure from activites that would normally be thought of as pleasurable), insomnia (inability to sleep), guilt, and psychomotor changes. On the other hand a decrease in activity of the HPA axis may be associated with the atypical features of depression. This study has already developed and refined studies that have improved the understanding of the HPA axis in healthy humans and depressed patients. Researchers have already identified and plan to continue identifying distinct subtypes of depressive disorders based on the activity of the HPA axis.

Medial longitudinal arch (MLA) is a curve of the foot located at the medial side of the body and protection of the height of the MLA is an important factor for limb health. This study was planned with the aim of investigating the response of the MLA height to the repetitive muscle activity and determine the gender-related differences.

Potential factors involved in neuromuscular fatigue were classified into two categories: 1) central factors involving the central nervous system and neural pathways, and 2) peripheral factors occurring within the muscle beyond the neuromuscular junction. In adults, it has been shown that peripheral factors contribute to a large part of the fatigue induced by repeated maximal contractions. However in children, central factors could account for the development of fatigue to a greater extent. Force-generating capacity and musculotendinous stiffness could be two of the discriminatory factors accounting for the differences in the neuromuscular fatigue between children and adults. Force production capacity and musculotendinous stiffness vary as function of muscle length. Naturally, they could differ depending on the muscle groups studied. The main aim of the present protocol is to compare the effect of knee extensors and ankle plantarflexors length on the development and aetiology of neuromuscular fatigue, in children and adults. The investigators formulated the hypotheses that at short muscle length force and low musculotendinous stiffness, differences in force between children and adults would be reduced. Thus neuromuscular fatigue development and aetiology would be similar between both groups. The results of the present protocol will allow to better understanding of the aetiology of neuromuscular fatigue in children and help improving training or rehabilitation programs.

This study explores whether it is feasible to use a newly developed activity pacing framework to standardise how activity pacing is instructed by healthcare professionals in rehabilitation programmes for patients with chronic pain/fatigue.

Among the symptoms referred by cancer patients, cancer related fatigue (CRF) is one of the most disabling symptom with a relevant impact on the quality of life. CRF can occur before, during and after anti-cancer treatment. The aim of the present study is to verify the efficacy of American Ginseng in preventing or reducing the intensity of moderate-severe CRF in breast cancer women receiving adjuvant chemotherapy with anthracyclines plus cyclophosphamide after surgery.

A typical tennis match can take 1 to 5 hours. Tennis serve can be divided into eight stages and three phases. Injuries usually happen in the cocking stage and acceleration phase of the serve, where it requires large shoulder range of motion and proper scapular motion, including sufficient scapular upper rotation, external rotation, and posterior tilt to produce a powerful serve. Altered shoulder kinematics are associated with shoulder injuries in tennis players, including delayed shoulder horizontal adduction, and early external rotation. Due to the long duration and repetition of activity in a match, fatigue may happen and result in decreases in sensory input, passive range of motion, ball speed, and muscle strength. These changes may further lead to altered glenohumeral and scapular kinematics. However, previous studies mainly focused on the effects of fatigue on scapular kinematics in constrain movements and applied different fatigue protocols, which lead to inconsistent results. Tennis serve in cocking stage and the acceleration phase require high activation of shoulder external rotators and internal rotators, including infraspinatus, pectoralis major, subscapularis, latissimus dorsi and serratus anterior. However, to our knowledge, no study has investigated how fatigue of shoulder rotators influences shoulder kinematic as well as scapular kinematics during the late cocking stage and acceleration phase of tennis serve. Therefore, the investigators aim to investigate whether fatigue of shoulder rotator affects shoulder kinematics in healthy tennis players during the late cocking stage and acceleration phase of tennis serve.This is a single group, pretest-posttest measurement study. In a fatigue protocol, investigators use an isokinetic dynamometer to induce fatigue of shoulder rotators. Outcome measures will be tested before and after the fatigue protocol, including peak torque of shoulder rotators, humerothoracic kinematics, scapulothoracic kinematics, and median power frequency recorded by a surface electromyography. Peak torque of shoulder rotators will be measured with an isokinetic dynamometer. Surface electromyography will be used to measure peripheral muscle fatigue by maximum voluntary isometric contraction. Humerothoracic kinematics and scapulothoracic kinematics during a functional tennis serve and scaption will be collected with a motion capture system.