Active clinical trials for "Muscle Weakness"

The traditional treatment of inflammatory myopathies (IM) and generalized myasthenia gravis (MG) is immunosuppressive therapy, usually beginning with corticosteroids. However, up to 70% of treated patients show an incomplete response, including 10 - 30% who are unresponsive. Corticosteroids and other immunosuppressive therapies presented also many side effects. We propose to evaluate in a pilot, open, prospective, multicentric, phase II study, the interest of rituximab in the treatment of patients with primary IM associated with specific AAb (anti-synthetase and anti-SRP AAbs), or MG (with anti-AchR AAbs), refractory to conventional therapies. Twenty fourth patients with primary IM (12 with anti-synthetase, 12 with anti-SRP AAbs), and 12 with MG will be included in the study.

The efficacy and safety of CellCept (1g po, bid for 36 weeks) will be assessed in patients with myasthenia gravis receiving prednisone, or other corticosteroids. During the study, patients will undergo gradual corticosteroid dose reduction, if they respond to treatment. The anticipated time on study treatment is 3-12 months, and the target sample size is 100-500 individuals.

This is a prospective, multi-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to determine the efficacy and safety of mycophenolate mofetil (MM) in combination with prednisone as the initial form of immunosuppression in patients with acquired myasthenia gravis (MG).

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship of deficiencies in testosterone and growth hormone to loss of muscle mass (sarcopenia) and functional impairment during aging and whether there is an interaction of these two hormone systems in maintaining normal skeletal muscle mass and physical function.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of RA101495 in patients with generalized Myasthenia Gravis (gMG). Subjects will be randomized in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive daily SC doses of 0.1 mg/kg RA101495, 0.3 mg/kg RA101495, or matching placebo for 12 weeks.

It is known that children with NF1 can have weak muscles and suffer from tiredness. It is also known that in similar conditions affecting children's muscles, standing on a vibration device for a few minutes each day can strengthen muscles and improve their ability to perform day-to-day activities. The investigators believe this vibrating platform can be used to strengthen the muscles of children with NF1 also, beyond standard exercises, and therefore allow them to perform day-to-day activities better, do more activity and feel less tired. If families are keen to take part in this study, the investigators will first need to check they are suitable for the trial. This will be based on the participant's age (6-16 years), their other medical problems that would affect use of the vibration device or tests to assess how effective it is, and their level of muscle weakness. Once families have agreed to take part, participants will be randomised either to receive a muscle-strengthening exercise session delivered by a physiotherapist that children with weak muscles should continue to perform daily for the next 6 months; or to receive a vibration device to take home and use for a few minutes 5 days a week for 6 months as well as the exercises. All participants will be invited to attend for a variety of activities and tests, just before starting the trial and 6 months later at the end of the trial to see if there is any benefit from the vibration device. The investigators will repeat these tests again 3 months later, to see if any benefits observed remain, even after the device is removed. They will involve jumping, hopping and balancing on a board, gripping a machine as hard and as long as possible, being fitted with a device that measures activity for 7 days, walking as far as possible for 6 minutes, scanning muscles using MRI, completing a tiredness and general well-being questionnaires, and parents completing a questionnaire of the participant's attention and intellect. The jumping will also be performed 3 months into the study, to see if there is any early improvement in this key test. All participants will be given full details of what the trial involves before taking part. As with any other trial, participants and their families are free to stop taking part at any time. Although the investigators do not anticipate any safety issues, if any do arise, the families will be asked to contact the trial team.

This is a Long-Term, Single-Arm, Open-Label, Multicenter Phase 3 follow-on trial of the ARGX-113-1704 study to evaluate the safety and tolerability of ARGX-113 in patients with gMG. Patients who have completed at least 1 cycle of treatment and at least 1 year of trial ARGX-113-1705 and have started Part B are eligible to enroll in the open-label trial ARGX-113-2002 to receive efgartigimod by SC administration.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of 6-week physiotherapy and rehabilitation programs involving different 'Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation' (PNF) techniques in patients with knee osteoarthritis on pain, proprioception, postural control, muscle strength, range of motion and knee functions

Due to an accident, pneumonia or surgery, patients can have severe shortness of breath or lung damage to such an extent that it compromises vital functions. At such times, mechanical ventilation can be lifesaving. The ventilator temporarily takes over the function of the respiratory muscles to ensure adequate uptake of oxygen and removal of carbon dioxide. Mechanical ventilation can usually be stopped quickly after the initial disease has been treated. Unfortunately, in up to 25-40% of ventilated patients it takes several days to weeks before mechanical ventilation can be discontinued, even after treatment of the initial disease. This phenomenon is termed weaning failure. Weakness of the respiratory muscles, such as the diaphragm, is one of the leading causes of weaning failure. Like other skeletal muscles, the diaphragm can become weakened if it is used too little. This happens often during mechanical ventilation because of excessive assistance provided by the ventilator or use of sedative medication. Excessive activity of the diaphragm can also lead to damage and weakness, just like in other muscles that have to perform excessive amounts for a prolonged period of time. Additionally, excessive work by the diaphragm might have a direct damaging effect on the lungs, which leads to a vicious cycle. As such, it is very important to find a balance between resting the diaphragm (which may lead to weakness) and placing excessive work on the diaphragm (which can damage the diaphragm and possibly the lungs). In this study, the investigators want to test whether insufficient activity and excessive activity of the diaphragm during mechanical ventilation can be prevented or reduced. The investigators plan to measure the diaphragm activity in 40 participants on mechanical ventilation. Participants will be randomly assigned to the intervention group or the control group. In the intervention group, ventilator support levels will be adjusted according to the observed diaphragm activity, in an attempt to ensure adequate diaphragm activity. The control group receives usual care. The hypothesis is that adjusting the level of support provided by the ventilator is a feasible method to improve the time that the diaphragm operates within acceptable levels of activity over a 24 hour period.

Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in Brazil, and its treatment, namely surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy or hormone therapy, has consequences and side effects that significantly affect the quality of life and associated physical and psychological factors. The practice of physical activity, in turn, may play a beneficial role in these factors, and help the recovery of the patient in relation to the consequences of the treatments. Two types of physical activity can be addressed in the context of breast cancer; Dance and the Pilates method. Thus, the objective of the present study will be to analyze the impact of Pilates practice and dance on quality of life and on psychological and physical factors in patients undergoing adjuvant treatment of breast cancer. Patients older than 18 years who are in adjuvant treatment, namely, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and / or hormone therapy at the Oncology Research Center - CEPON, will be invited to be part of the study. With a randomized clinical trial of three arms, the patients will be submitted to 16 weeks of intervention, and randomized in 3 groups: (A) belly dance protocol group; (B) Pilates method protocol group, and (C) control group who will continue with their routine activities. Sample randomization will be conducted in confidence by one of the researchers in a specific computer program. Information about personal and clinical characteristics, quality of life, psychological factors (depressive symptoms, body image, self-esteem, optimism, perceived stress, fatigue, pain, sexual function and sleep quality) and physical factors (cardiorespiratory fitness, balance , Posture, upper limb functionality and presence of lymphedema). All information will be collected before and after the intervention period. Statistical analysis will use the statistical package SPSS - IBM, version 20.0. Firstly, descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation and percentage) will be used in order to know the data, and then the Anova two way test with repeated measurements and Sydak Comparison Test, in order to analyze the data. Groups of the Pilates method, of the dance and control group. Significance level of 5%.