Active clinical trials for "Parkinson Disease"

To investigate the tolerability and safety of four multiple-dose regimens of BIA 6-512 (25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, and 150 mg 6 times daily) in healthy volunteers and to characterise the steady-state pharmacokinetic profiles of BIA 6-512 (25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, and 150 mg 6 times daily) in healthy volunteers.

To assess 30 active people (15 with PD, 15 without) before and after 30 minutes of pedaling exercise using EEG-EMG, cognitive, mood and motor assessments.

Gait and balance disorders represent the main motor disability in advanced Parkinson's disease. These symptoms are less or unresponsive to levodopa treatment and are considered to be a contraindication for deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus. Falls and freezing of gait are responsible for high morbidity (fractures, residential health care) and increased significantly mortality. The pathophysiology of gait and balance disorders is still poorly understood, but recent data obtained in animals and humans suggest that a degeneration of cholinergic neurons of the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN), within the mesencephalic locomotor region, could play a crucial role. In line with this hypothesis, low-frequency stimulation of the pedunculopontine area, thought to increase the activity of the remaining cholinergic PPN neurons, has been proposed to alleviate gait and balance disorders in advanced PD patients. Here, the efficacy of deep brain stimulation of the mesencephalic locomotor region will be tested in 12 PD patients in a randomized, double-blind, cross-over, controlled study.

This is a safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetic study in subjects with Parkinson's disease

The overall goal of this T2 translational research project is to pilot an interdisciplinary high-intensity group singing program to improve speech and swallowing in patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) and to explore the impact of this program on quality of life (QOL). This research has three specific aims: 1) Determine the effects of a high-intensity group vocal training program on vocal function and laryngeal structure; 2) Determine the transference of vocal training to laryngeal aspects of swallowing; 3) Determine the effect of patient-reported changes in Quality of Life (QOL) as the result of participation in a group vocal training program. Twenty patients with Parkinson Disease will be recruited from the Fresco Institute for Parkinson's & Movement Disorders to participate in a 12-week vocal training program. The program will train participants using maximum vocal function exercises targeting vocal deficits specific to PD. Choral singing therapy sessions will be conducted once weekly with daily home practice exercises based on principles that have been successful in other intensive PD vocal exercise programs.

Parkinson's disease (PD), characterized as progressive and neurodegenerative, is one of the most frequent neurological diseases of the present time. Patients with PD present motor impairment, such as muscle stiffness, rest tremor, slow movements, postural instability, and gait and balance alterations; And non-motor factors, such as cognitive and neuropsychiatric disorders, depressive symptoms, and a consequent decrease in quality of life (QL). Dance can be an important tool for the complementary treatment of these patients, when added to traditional drug therapies and physiotherapies. Thus, the present study aims to verify the effects of a program of dance and walking in gait and QL of 38 adults with PD, divided in two groups, and to compare the aspects of functionality, dynamic stability, kinematics and QL. The data collection instruments will be a personal data sheet of the patients, the Hoehn and Yahr Scale (H&Y), the Rehabilitation Index (RI), the motor part of the Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS III), the Timed Up ang Go test (TUG), the kinematic analysis of walking and the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39). Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 20.0 will be used to analyze the data, using the Wilcoxon test for non-parametric data and the paired t-test for parametric data, in order to compare pre and post intervention data. The significance level adopted for both tests will be p <0.05. It is expected that a program of 24 sessions of dance classes will be as or more effective than a program of 24 walking sessions for the gait quality and QL for the participants of the study.

Freezing of gait (FoG) is a common and debilitating condition in Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients. FoG is described as an episodic inability to walk, which often triggers falls, hospitalization and is an important predictor of poor quality of life. As locomotor regions degenerate in PD, gait automaticity is impaired. Patients compensate by increasing volitional control of gait, however, this adaptation has been found to worsen FoG severity. We hypothesize that increased cortical control of gait is maladaptive, and therapies to improve gait automaticity will not be effective unless cortical control of gait is reduced. The long-term goal of this project is to develop a therapeutic approach for FoG that simultaneously reduces cortical control and increases automaticity of gait. The objective is to determine the locomotor network abnormalities responsible for FoG and demonstrate how neuromodulation and rehabilitation can modulate the network. The rationale of this study is that increased connectivity between brainstem locomotor regions and cortical structures represents increased cortical governance of gait, and it can be reversed by the proposed intervention. We will accomplish this by combining a course of inhibitory rTMS (1Hz) to the cortex (supplementary motor area) with a rehabilitation protocol designed to increase gait automaticity (dual task training). We have designed a study that will carefully assess the locomotor network of freezers with resting state functional, diffusion and interleaved TMS/BOLD MRI studies, before and after intervention. Behavioral measures including gait analysis, cognitive and motor assessments will also be conducted at baseline and post treatment. The study aims to determine the effects of our intervention on the locomotor network (assessed with imaging), as well as on FoG severity as quantified through multiple markers obtained through gait analysis. At the conclusion of the study we expect to have determined the network changes central to the pathophysiology of FoG, the effects of 1Hz rTMS + rehabilitation on this network, and on FoG severity. The relevance of this study to public health is to develop a non-invasive effective therapeutic option for one of the most debilitating and untreatable conditions affecting the lives of one million Americans suffering from PD; freezing of gait.

With an increase of over 38% in neurological related hospital admissions between 2008-13, there are now over 12.5 million cases of individuals with neurological conditions in the UK. Following diagnosis of a neurological condition, there is often a period of adjustment to new life circumstances, with changes to relationships, ability to work and leisure activities. With a future often fraught with uncertainty, psychological difficulties such as Anxiety and Depression are common. It is estimated that following diagnosis of a neurological condition, up to 60% of individual's will experience mental health difficulties. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has been gaining popularity in supporting those with neurological conditions. ACT is based on emotional acceptance and supporting individuals to live a valued life, despite ongoing symptoms. Research into the use of ACT with this population has found it to be effective in reducing levels of psychological distress and increasing psychological flexibility. With limited resources and an ever increasing desire to improve interventions offered to patients, services are now looking at new and innovative ways of offering increasingly effective and satisfactory treatments. Therefore, in early 2014, the author devised a six week ACT group intervention for adjustment following diagnosis of a neurological condition. The intervention provides a combination of ACT techniques, in addition to a space for group members to build relationships and share their difficulties, to help individuals increase acceptance of their difficulties and reduce psychological distress. Following an initial pilot, findings illustrated that participants' psychological distress reduced and psychological flexibility increased. Therefore, this research project aims to further evaluate the intervention under controlled conditions.

Postural instability is a particularly incapacitating disorder, where loss of motor independence by Parkinson´s Disease (PD) patients marks a significant stage of disease onset. Evidence suggests that deficits in automatic motor control, sensory integration and attention are associated with lack of balance in PD. Physiotherapy, together with medication, plays an important role in the treatment of this state, although no consensus has been reached on the best treatment modality. The aim of this randomized controlled trial protocol is to evaluate the effects of balance training with rhythmical (BRT), which is a motor program to improve balance associated with rhythmical auditory cues (RACs)

A 12-week, prospective, multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, Phase 3 study in L-Dopa responsive PD patients with motor fluctuations ("OFF" episodes), designed to determine the efficacy, safety and tolerability of APL-130277.