Active clinical trials for "Neurodegenerative Diseases"

The coverage of the caregivers of patients reached of neurodegenerative disease becomes essential. The psychic, physical but also social impacts for the caregivers are widely documented in the literature just like the stress associated with this role, we speak then about "burden of the caregivers". It seems that the caregivers set up little effective strategies of adaptation pulling fatal consequences on their well-being. He was shown in the literature, that a level of high stress is going to engender a decrease of mental flexibility and so entrainer a rigidity of adaptation. To decrease the burden of the caregivers, numerous interventions were proposed. The analysis of the literature highlights that these interventions are rarely developed from theoretical models pulling(entailing) a stream of techniques proposed to the caregivers but without precise objective. The most effective interventions concerning the coverage(care) of the burden of the caregivers are the ones which are targeted and structured, those who put the helper in active position and who have an effect on the subjective burden. The cognitive-behavioral therapy (TCC) would seem particularly effective. So, to modify the perception (collection) of the caregivers in front of cognitive, behavioral, functional modifications of their close friend(relation), to bring them to estimate positively their role and to favor the employment(use) of adaptive strategies turns out to be a privileged target of intervention to be used(employed) to improve the well-being of the caregivers and so decrease their burden. Considering this, an intervention based on the techniques of resolution of problems (TRP) could show itself very relevant as specific coverage (care). The works concerning the contribution of the TRP and the adaptation generally concerning situations of health showed that this type(chap) of intervention facilitated an adapted situational coping, but also increased generally the social, academic and professional performances. Various searches(researches) also showed that the resolution of problem is associated with indicators of adaptation at patients' nursing reached(affected) by Alzheimer's disease. So we propose to the family caregivers a coverage(care) based on the therapy of resolution of problems taking support on the model of Lazarus's stress and Folkman and according to the model stemming from works of D' Zurilla and Nezu. We make the hypothesis that this intervention is going to allow a decrease of the burden by allowing the caregivers to find a capacity to modulate their strategies to fit at best the evolutions of the clinical situation. The main objective of our study is to compare the efficiency of a coverage(care) based on the Therapy of Resolution of Problems to a group of word and to that proposed at the moment within the pole of gerontology in the decrease of the burden of the caregivers of patients reached(affected) by neurodegenerative disease in 12 months. Our secondary objectives will concern the evolution of the burden in 6 months and the evolution of the strategies of coping, the anxious, depressive symptomatology, the quality of life, the mental flexibility in 6 and 12 months. According to the data of the current literature, we expect a decrease of the psychological distress, an increase of the good(property) to be psychological. More specifically, by proposing an intervention targeted in particular at the management of the stress, the helper is going to acquire fitnesses which will have a long-lasting(sustainable) therapeutic effect. By associating techniques of psychoeducation with techniques of management of the stress we hope we can propose a type(chap) of intervention suited to the natural caregivers to favor the preservation at home.

The etiology of many neurodegenerative diseases is unknown. A few studies have suggested the role of infection in the gastrointestinal tract in the etiology and pathogenesis of neurological diseases such as idiopathic Parkinson. For example, infection with Helicobacter pylori has been suggested to play a role in Parkinson disease. In addition, bacterial pathogens such as spirochetes and bacterial products such as cyanobacterial toxins have been speculated as the contributing factors in the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The effect of microbial composition of the gut in the pathogenesis of ALS is suspected. The difference in the bacterial profile of the gut has been documented in diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease and obesity. The goal of this IRB protocol is to create a human tissue bank and to obtain patients' demographic information for future investigation of the role of bacterial pathogens and the role of gut flora composition in the development of neurodegenerative diseases including but not limited to ALS, Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis.

This study evaluate the interest to create a new database of PET digital brain exams in population of 50 years and over of patients. Half of patients with no abnormal brain metabolism while the other half patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's Disease is a neurodegenerative disease age related caused by neurofibrillary tangles misfolding and Beta-amyloid protein accumulation. In the last decade several findings showed the role of biophenols present in diary intake such as extra virgin olive oil as potential antagonist of neurodegeneration. Two population studies (The Seven Countries Study and Three-City-Study) and four clinical trials (PREDIMED, PREDIMED - NAVARRA, ACTRIN and ISRCTN) have already suggested that mediterranean diet or other diets supplemented with extra virgin olive oil could improve cerebral performance.

Some patients with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) progress to neurocognitive disorders (NCD), whereas others remain stable; however, the neuropsychological determinants of this progression have not been identified. The investigators objective was to examine baseline neuropsychological indicators that could discriminate between people in whom the SCD progressed to a mild or major NCD and people in whom the SCD remained stable. The investigators retrospectively included patients consulting for SCD at a university medical center's memory center (Amiens, France) and who had undergone three or more neuropsychological assessments at least 6 months apart. The relationship between domain-specific scores and the global cognitive score (GCS, as a function of final status (stable SCD vs. progression toward a mild or major NCD)) was examined using a generalized linear mixed model.

In Paris, France, home hospice care for terminally ill patients is organized by four "palliative care networks". These networks are responsible for information sharing and coordination of all health care professionals working with the patient. Two different systems are in place to ensure continuity of care outside working hours, in such a setting. In the first system, palliative care specialists from the network are reachable over the phone 24/7 by the patient or its caregivers, whenever needed. In the second system, medical information about the patient, regularly updated by the network's medical team, is available to professionals via a secure website, so that in case the patient requires an urgent medical home visit outside working hours, the visiting physician has access to accurate information. The study's goal is to compare patient's and caregiver's satisfaction between these two systems of continuity of care. For that purpose, patients will be taken care of as usual by every palliative care network. In every instance where the patient or caregivers have reached out for medical help through the network's continuity of care system, the patient or caregiver will be called 5 days later by the investigation team to go through a satisfaction questionnaire (Likert scales)

Cardiovascular disease and malignancies account for more than 70% of all causes of mortality and morbidity in Italy. There is a subtle balance between genetic determinants and lifestyle, that often defines the line between health and sickness. So far studies aiming at identifying risk factors have mainly come from Northern Europe and the USA. It was to understand this balance between genetics and environmental determinants better, and to tailor appropriate preventive strategies for Italian and other Southern European populations, that the Moli-sani study was launched, transforming a small Italian region into a large scientific laboratory: the "Molise lab". Each participant received a thorough medical check-up at no cost to either him/her or the national health service, resulting in thousands of hours of free public health care. With a completely computerized system, Moli-sani is a "paperless" study, in which researchers and participants communicate using recently developed technologies such as mobile phone text messages (SMS). The biological data bank (the "MoliBank") is one of the largest in Europe. Paying particular attention towards innovation and new technologies, the Moli-sani study has placed itself at the cutting edge of a new paradigm crossing research and prevention

Alzheimer's disease, stroke and TBI are frequently observed brain disorders, causing significant morbidity. For none of these disorders, there are in vivo diagnostic biomarkers available that allow determination of disease burden, patient-specific prognosis and therapy follow-up. However, they all share a similar mechanism that may cause accumulation of tau oligomers in the brain, synaptic dysfunction and cognitive and/or behavioral impairment. Until recently, the only way to quantify synaptic density and tau deposition was using post-mortem immunohistochemistry. Now, in vivo Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging of synaptic density has become possible trough development of 11C-UCB-J, a levetiracetam-based radioligand, expressing high affinity and specificity for SV2A. Furthermore, the novel radioligand 18F-MK-6240, specifically targeting tau deposits, was clinically implemented in our center. Through PET-MR, we can visualize the cascade of tau deposition, synaptic loss and degeneration of grey and white matter and relate these pathologic features to cognitive and behavioral deterioration. The goal of the study is to: 1) measure tau deposition and loss of synaptic density in these conditions as a potential measure for disease load 2) determination of the mid-term (2 years) monitoring capacity of combined functional-structural PET-MR imaging 3) relate progression of the imaging markers to cognitive and/or behavioral decline and 4) determination of the optimal combination of PET-MR metrics for early identification and risk-stratification of cognitive and/or behavioral dysfunction in de novo patients.

It is commonly admitted that social cognition impairment, like deficit in facial emotion recognition or misinterpretation of others' intentions (Theory of Mind), are associated with social behavior disorders. This kind of disorders are observed in Fronto-Temporal Dementia (FTD), Alzheimer's Dementia (AD) and Parkinson's Disease (PD), with severe deficits in FTD and lighter deficits in AD and PD. One explanation might be that patients apply inappropriate visual exploration strategies to decode emotions and intentions of others. This study aims to test this hypothesis and further to analyse whether different patterns emerge from these pathologies.

Perform quantitative metabolomics on human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples and establish the first human CSF Metabolome Database of aging process in Taiwan.