Active clinical trials for "Parkinsonian Disorders"

The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of Droxidopa for the treatment of fatigue in patients with Parkinsonism by the Visual Analog Fatigue Scale (VAFS). This is a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial for 3 months where half the subjects will receive placebo and the other half will receive Droxidopa. Following this will be a wash-out period of 7 days and then all subjects will receive Droxidopa for 3 months during the open-label phase.

This study will compare the brain uptake of 18F- DTBZ in 20 patients with PD, 20 patients with MSA, 20 patients with PSP, 20 patients with CBS, and 20 patients with VaP, 20 patients with ET, and 10 patients with DT.

The primary objective of this protocol is to access the utility of 18F-DTBZ PET imaging as an in vivo biomarker to monitor neurodegeneration of both PD mouse models and PD patients. Secondary, the investigators will analyze progression rate of genetic-proving PARK8 and PARK6 patients who have homogeneous phenotype and genotype by 18F-DTBZ PET imaging.

Study participants who have been clinically diagnosed with Parkinson disease will receive no treatment, treatment with either levodopa, or treatment with Mirapex for a period of 12 weeks. Over the course of the study subjects will travel to the Institute for Neurodegenerative Disorders (IND) in New Haven, Connecticut for brain imaging.

In this study, the investigators will assess the Vagus nerve in two groups: Group 1 which include patients with parkinsonism and group 2 which included age and sex matched healthy control. The aim of the study is: detecting the difference between both groups and correlating the changes in the Vagus nerve cross sectional area with the motor and non motor manifestations of parkinsonism

Gait disorders and falls are frequent in patients with parkinsonian syndromes. In patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), these signs occurred later during the course of the disease in comparison to patients with other degenerative parkinsonian disorders. The pathophysiology of these symptoms are still not fully understood. Gait initiation challenges the balance control system as the body moves from an upright stable static posture to a continuously unstable gait. The aim of this study is to analyse the gait initiation process in patients with parkinsonian disorders.

Popular science summary of the project The purpose of the study is to investigate in a Swedish population how well the investigators' previous ultrasound findings match the final diagnosis (PD, APS or ET) after a particularly long follow-up time, which greatly increases the certainty that the diagnosis does not change more and is thus correct. Furthermore, the investigators want to study whether the initial ultrasound findings have changed during the control interval and whether measurement results regarding the diameter in one of the fluid-filled rooms in the brain (third ventricle) can be correlated with the development of cognitive impairment or dementia later in the course of the disease. For this, this study have got ethical permission to go into the patients' medical records and to call a subgroup back to the clinic to be able to do a new examination and a memory test.

Background: People with Parkinson's disease (PD), including parkinsonisms, experience complex motor and non-motor symptoms, which become more hindering in the advanced stages of PD. Advance care planning (ACP) enables individuals to define goals and preferences for future medical treatment and serves to ensure that people receive treatment and care that is in line with their preferences during serious chronic illness. The effectiveness of ACP for PD is currently unknown. Methods: The investigators will evaluate the effectiveness of a multicenter, open-label randomized controlled trial, with a parallel group design in seven European countries (Austria, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Sweden and United Kingdom). The "PD_Pal intervention" comprises (1) several consultations with a trained nurse who will perform ACP conversations and support care coordination and (2) use of a patient-directed "Parkinson Support Plan-workbook". The intervention group will be compared to a care-as-usual group. Documented ACP-decisions in the medical records/patient's central file assessed at 6 months after baseline will be the primary endpoint. Secondary endpoints include patients' and family caregivers' quality of life, perceived care coordination, patients' symptom burden, and cost-effectiveness. Assessments will take place at baseline, 6 months after baseline and 12 months after baseline. In parallel, we will perform a process evaluation, to understand the feasibility of the intervention. Hypothesis: The investigators hypothesize that the PD_Pal intervention will result in an increased number of participants with ACP documentation in the medical records/patient's central file, as compared to care-as-usual. Secondly, the investigators expect that, due to the PD_Pal intervention, patients and their FC will experience better care coordination, better quality of life, a reduced patient symptom burden and the FC will experience a reduction in caregiver burden.

To see whether MINGO, a food supplement, will be able to lessen the drastic weight loss seen among X-linked Dystonia Parkinsonism patients.

The objective of this study is to compare the effectiveness of a personalized patient education program to the current hospital education and evaluate its impact using patient satisfaction scores. The investigators hypothesize that a personalized patient education intervention will increase patient's understanding of their diagnosis and satisfaction with the care as reflected in the survey results.