Active clinical trials for "Parkinson Disease"

This is a 6-week exploratory clinical study, designed to test whether treatment with peroneal electrical trans-cutaneous stimulation can have a beneficial effects on symptoms associated with Parkinson's diseases and essential tremor.

Many patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) report an increased consumption of fast-acting sugars. This tendency to consume sweet, high-sugar foods occurs in some patients even before the onset of cardinal motor symptoms. Some recent studies have demonstrated that PD patients have an increased consumption of fast-acting carbohydrates compared to healthy controls. However, the reason for this change in eating behavior has not yet been adequately explained. It is discussed that the increased sugar intake leads to an increased dopamine release in the brain via an increase in insulin and thus to an improvement in clinical symptoms. This study investigates the influence of fast-acting carbohydrates on insulin and glucose blood levels as well as motor and non-motor symptoms in patients with PD using an oral glucose tolerance test and a placebo oral glucose tolerance test in a crossover design.

Propofol is a short-acting general anesthetic drug commonly used in clinical practice, with rapid clinical onset of action, amnesic, anxiolytic, antiepileptic, and muscle relaxant effects. The lack of natural antioxidants in patients with Parkinson's disease and propofol's ability to protect the brain by inhibiting oxidative stress, its pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties make propofol a suitable anesthetic drug for functional stereotactic surgery in patients with Parkinson's disease. However, changes in brain functional status during propofol anesthesia in Parkinson's patients are unknown. There is a lack of data from extensive clinical studies to support the need for propofol dosing during induction of anesthesia compared with non-Parkinson patients. This study is a prospective cohort study designed to compare the differences in propofol dosing requirements during induction of propofol anesthesia in patients with PD versus non-PD and to monitor the characteristics of altered brain functional status such as EEG and cerebral blood flow autoregulation capacity in PD versus non-PD patients during the perioperative period.

In this study, we plan to have Parkinson's patients perform exercises according to the task-oriented training method. Since recent studies have suggested that task-oriented training should be organized as a series of workstations that allow for more intensive practice, each of them has a program content implemented in the form of a station. The program will be implemented in 11 different stations with 3 minutes and a 1-minute break at each station, 3 days a week for 8 weeks under the supervision and guidance of a physiotherapist. The task-oriented training program will be carried out by applying the above-mentioned exercises in the form of stations sequentially within a certain period of time. For all exercises, the intensity perceived by the individuals will be ensured to be 12-15 points of perceived exertion according to the Borg Perceived Exertion Scale. In this way, the exercise program can be easily individualized according to the person's pain, complaints, and functional status. In our study, after the task-oriented approach, foam roller application and myofascial release will be applied at the end of each session. Foam roller application; C7-T1 and posterior neck region, thoracic spine, lumbar spine, and right and left sides of the thoracolumbar spine will be applied with a foam roller, which is a myofascial release device, in each session. Each application area will be applied in 3 sets of 60 seconds of application and 30 seconds of rest. The intensity of the pressure for the intensity of the application will be subjectively controlled with a target numeric rating scale rating of 7/10 (0 represents no discomfort and 10 represents maximum discomfort). In the sham group, similar to the literature, the intensity of the application will be applied in accordance with the 0/10 numeric rating scale, at the same application sites, for the same duration and the same rest intervals. Within the scope of our study, participants' gait, balance, rotation time, range of motion, level of achievement of the treatment goal, quality of life and trunk impairment will be evaluated at the beginning of the study and at the end of 8 weeks.

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of a novel deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the Subthalamic Nucleus (STN) and Nucleus Basalis of Meynert (NBM) to treat cognitive and cognitive-motor symptoms in individuals with Parkinson's disease. The main question it aims to answer is: Is a combined deep brain stimulation approach targeting the STN and NBM with four DBS leads safe and tolerable for cognitive and cognitive-motor symptoms in individuals with Parkinson's disease with Mild Cognitive Impairment. Ten participants are anticipated to be enrolled. Participants will undergo a modification of the traditional STN DBS approach for motor symptoms of PD. In addition to the two leads placed within the STN, two additional leads will be placed with the NBM for treatment of cognitive and cognitive-motor symptoms. Novel stimulation patterns will be used within the NBM to target cognitive and cognitive-motor symptoms using an investigational software. Participants will be followed over two years while receiving this therapy with assessments at baseline and every six months. Assessments will include a combination of neuropsychological evaluations, cognitive assessments, motor tasks (including gait/walking), and questionnaires to evaluate the treatment. Two different surgical trajectories will be used, with half the cohort randomized to each group. This will allow comparison of the impact of surgical trajectory on the intervention.

Background: Falls are common in elderly individuals and those with neurological conditions like Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's disease causes postural instability and mobility issues that lead to falls and reduced quality of life. The fear of falling (FoF), a natural response to unstable balance, can exacerbate postural control problems. However, evaluating FoF relies primarily on subjective self-reports due to a lack of objective assessment methods. Objectives: This mixed-methods feasibility study aims to develop an objective method for assessing fear of falling during motion and walking using virtual reality. This protocol examines a range of FoF-related responses, including cognitive, neuromuscular, and postural stability factors. Methods: Parkinson's disease patients and healthy controls will complete questionnaires, movement tasks, and walking assessments in real and virtual environments where FoF can be elicited using virtual reality (VR) technology. Data from center-of-pressure measurements, electromyography, heart rate monitoring, motion capture, and usability metrics will evaluate the method's acceptability and safety. Semi-structured interviews will gather participants' and researchers' experiences of the protocol. Discussion: This method may allow accurate assessment of how FoF impacts movement by measuring cognitive, neuromuscular, and postural responses during gait and motion. Virtual environments reproduce real-life scenarios that trigger FoF. Rigorously assessing FoF with this approach could demonstrate its ability to quantify the effects of FoF on movement. Conclusions: This protocol aims to improve FoF assessment by evaluating multiple responses during movement in virtual environments. It addresses current measures' limitations. A feasibility study will identify areas for improvement specific to Parkinson's disease. Successful validation could transform how FoF is evaluated and managed.

This research is being done to develop a unique matching process for caregivers of persons living with dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal degeneration, or other dementia syndromes. Dementia caregivers often assume greater caregiving burden than do non-dementia caregivers, and the caregiving duration tends to be longer. Many caregivers do not have the adequate support they need. Peer-to-peer support has been shown to improve quality of life, more engagement with services, improve caregiver health, and reduce hospitalizations in the person they are caring for. This study will help determine whether caregivers of persons with dementia would find a technology-based caregiver matching program valuable for the purpose of emotional support.

The purpose of the study is to determine the effects of a novel, personalized, tactile cueing system on gait automaticity. The researchers hypothesized that step-synchronized tactile cueing will reduce prefrontal cortex activity (improve automaticity) and improve gait variability (as well as gait speed). The researchers predict that improved automaticity with improved gait variability will be associated with increased activation of other than prefrontal cortical areas while walking (i.e., sensory-motor). To determine the effects of cueing, 60 participants with PD from will be randomized into one, of two, cueing interventions: 1) personalized, step-synchronized tactile cueing and 2) tactile cueing at fixed intervals as an active control group. In addition, the researchers will explore the feasibility and potential benefits of independent use of tactile cueing during a week in daily life for a future clinical trial. This project will characterize the cortical correlates of gait automaticity, the changes in gait automaticity with cueing in people with PD, and how these changes translate to improvement in gait and turning. The long-term goal is to unravel the mechanisms of impaired gait automaticity in PD.

This observational study's main goal is to learn more about the neural mechanisms during movement in Parkinson's disease. Furthermore, it aims to inspire personalised treatment options. Participants will undergo a protocol that involves walking and gait-related motor tasks, such as seated stepping. During the protocol, brain activity will be recorded.

This is a multicenter longitudinal study in about 300 patients with Idiopathic Parkinson's disease, who will be evaluated in several clinical centers with a clinical assessment and an oculometric examination during a time period with specific intervals. This study aims to evaluate the correlation between oculometric measures and clinical assessment over time, as well as the potential to detect early change in clinical status using an oculometric assessment.