Active clinical trials for "Parkinson Disease"

The posterior subthalamic area holds promise as a target region for deep brain stimulation in tremor and Parkinson's disease. Using the magnetic resonance-directed implantable guide tube surgical technique, subregions of the posterior subthalamic area can be individually targetted on a single electrode lead trajectory. The hypothesis is that the caudal zona incerta may provide improved control of movement disorder symptoms than the more commonly stimulated dorsal zona incerta.

Numerous epidemiological studies have linked lifelong use of caffeine to a lower risk of Parkinson's disease (PD) - prospective studies have estimated that non-coffee drinkers have an approximately 1.7-2.5 fold increased risk of developing PD compared to coffee drinkers. This is an extremely important finding which deserves further more in depth investigations. The exact pathophysiological mechanism remains elusive, but multiple hypotheses do exist: Caffeine antagonizes adenosine receptors directly yielding an improvement on motor systems and even on Levodopa serum concentrations (when on therapy). An additional explanation is that adenosine antagonism has neuroprotective properties by acting locally on basal ganglia circuits and the substantia nigra. The current study aims to identify the optimal caffeine dose with maximal motor benefit and the least amount of undesirable adverse effects.

This phase IIb study is designed to determine the safe and efficacious dose or dose range of AFQ056 for the treatment of patients with moderate to severe Parkinson's disease with L-Dopa induced dyskinesias.

The purpose of this study is to confirm that the dose levels and dosing frequency utilising the new Stalevo strengths would result into more stable levodopa plasma levels. Therefore, it is anticipated that when lower dose of Stalevo is administered after the first higher dose of Stalevo, this would result in equally high levodopa maximum concentration values (Cmax) after each dose throughout the day compared to Cmax after the first dose.

This study will assess the effectiveness of solifenacin succinate (VESIcare) in reducing symptoms of overactive bladder in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients.

The purpose of this clinical trial is to investigate the effects of the non-ergot dopamine agonist piribedil on vigilance and cognitive performances in patients with Parkinson's disease in comparison with other oral non-ergot dopamine agonists. It should be tested whether piribedil is superior to continued pramipexole or ropinirole treatment regarding improvement of reduced vigilance and cognitive performance in patients with Parkinson's disease.

This is an open-label study to investigate the effects of the rivastigmine patch on attention and behavior in Parkinson's disease when associated with memory and/or thinking problems. Rivastigmine (also sold under the name Exelon) is an FDA approved medication used for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and memory or thinking problems due to Parkinson's disease. Recently a rivastigmine patch was developed, which has shown similar effectiveness with fewer side effects and increased caregiver preference when compared to capsules. This is an open-label 12 week study where 15 subjects diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease who have mild to moderate memory and/or thinking complaints will be treated with the rivastigmine patch at UCSF. This study also analyzes the mechanism by which the rivastigmine patch works in people with Parkinson's disease and memory and/or thinking problems.

This is a study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of IPX066 in advanced Parkinson's disease.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether oral intake of COMT inhibitors affects the smooth plasma levodopa levels achieved by intestinal levodopa/carbidopa infusion in advanced Parkinson's disease patients. The hypothesis is that COMT inhibitors make plasma concentrations of levodopa more fluctuating.

The overall plan of this project is to evaluate [123I] mZINT as a tool to assess SERT density in humans. This protocol will be completed in three parts. In Part A serial dynamic SPECT will be acquired after injection of [123I] mZINT in healthy controls to assess regional brain uptake in human subjects. If Part A demonstrates robust brain region specific uptake, then Part B - additional studies in healthy subjects to assess biodistribution, and Part C - studies in PD subjects to compare regional uptake to healthy controls, will be completed.