Active clinical trials for "Peripheral Nervous System Diseases"

Electroacupuncture (referred to as EA) may be an effective treatment for Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy/CIPN pain. Acupuncture is a medical technique that involves insertion of very thin needles into specific areas on the body with the goal of promoting health and well-being. EA involves adding a very small amount of electricity through the acupuncture needles (electrical stimulation). Researchers have found that EA can increase the effects of regular acupuncture, and it is particularly helpful for treating different kinds of pain. The purpose of this study is to learn if EA can improve CIPN pain in cancer survivors, and if it is effective against other CIPN-related symptoms.

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN is common among cancer patients during or after chemotherapy, and the currently available drugs cannot effectively manage the symptoms. Besides, CIPN causes fatigue, anxiety, and depression. CIPN is featured by the interference of interleukin (IL) pathways, among which escalation of IL-17 is predominant, suggesting that IL-17 may be manipulated to reduce the inflammation or the immunological disturbance. Cyanidin, a type of glucosides, has been proved to behave like an IL-17 inhibitor. We have identified a food material that contains large amounts of glucosides and rutinosides - mulberry juice. The current proposal aims to explore the effect of this IL-17 inhibitor-rich material in CIPN and related symptoms. We plan to divide the potential participants into severe pain and mild pain group to conduct two human studies. A single-blinded randomized controlled design is adopted to compare the effects of this crude material between the experimental group and the control group in (1) pain and CIPN of the severe pain participants and (2) fatigue, anxiety, and depression in the mild pain participants. IL and other immune markers will be tested as evidence of improvement of inflammation status. We expect a decrement in pain, CIPN, fatigue, anxiety, and depression severity with the intake of this IL-17 inhibitor-rich material among cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Diabetes affects more than 30 million people in the United States and is a leading cause of morbidity. Over 25% diabetics also suffer from debilitating painful diabetic neuropathy in the lower legs and feet. This pain can be severe, difficult to control, and have a significant negative impact on quality of life. Opioid medications have historically been a mainstay of treatment for this pain, despite the risks. As the death toll from the U.S. opioid epidemic continues to rise, the need for quality alternative non-opioid medications to treat pain becomes more urgent. One of these potential medications is Low-Dose Naltrexone (LDN). This drug is reported to work by enhancing the body's natural pain relieving mechanisms and decreases inflammation by targeting specific cells called microglia which have been shown to influence chronic pain. LDN has been shown to be a safe medication with minimal side effects. Its efficacy has been demonstrated in other painful conditions but has never been fully studied for treating painful diabetic neuropathy. The goal of this randomized, placebo-controlled trial is to determine if LDN is effective for treating the pain caused by diabetic neuropathy. LDN's mechanism of action is well suited to treating painful diabetic neuropathy, and LDN shows significant promise as a safe, non-opioid alternative that can decrease pain and improve quality of life for those suffering from this painful condition.

The purpose of this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group phase II trial is to determine whether nicotinamide riboside (NIAGEN®, NR) can ameliorate persistent peripheral neuropathy in cancer survivors who have completed chemotherapy with taxane or platinum-complex compounds between 1 and 12 months earlier.

Peripheral and Motor neuropathy represent a main obstacle for a better quality of life for cancer patients, Venlafaxine is introduced in a new dosing regimen for treating of oxaliplatin and taxanes induced peripheral neuropathy in cancer patients.

Investigators want to investigate the efficacy of transcutaneous pulsed radiofrequency therapy in the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy symptoms. For this purpose, investigators aimed to compare the results of two groups treated with sham electrode and active electrode.

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy(DPN) is a length dependent axonal neuropathy that affects at least 50% of patients with diabetes mellitus. DPN is often asymptomatic during the early stages of diabetes ,however, once symptoms and overt deficits have developed, it cannot be reversed. Early diagnosis of neuropathy is important because early diagnosis and timely intervention might prevent the development and progression of diabetic neuropathy.Though glycemic control has been shown to prevent the progression of diabetic microvascular complications including diabetic peripheral neuropathy in Type I DM, such strict glycemic control has not shown to improve diabetic peripheral neuropathy in Type 2 DM. There are only few animal studies conducted so far which have shown that the use of SGLT2 inhibitors prevents the progression of diabetic peripheral neuropathy.Thus the investigators postulate that the use of SGLT2 inhibitor in patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus might be beneficial in the prevention of progression of diabetic peripheral neuropathy as well as reverse it.

Purpose: Patients with severe traumatic optic neuropathy (TON) have limited improvement in visual function despite therapy. The hypothesis of the study is that the targeted shortwave diathermy combined with perceptual training may enhance visual function in patients with severe TON after endoscopic optic nerve decompression (EOND) surgery. Design: Clinical trial Subjects: Twenty-two subjects with severe TON after EOND surgery were randomly assigned to either a rehabilitation (Reh) group or nonrehabilitation (Nreh) group. Methods: High-resolution computed tomography and MRI were used to locate the impaired nerve. The subjects in the Reh group received targeted shortwave diathermy therapy 5 days per week for 4 weeks and perceptual training 5 days per week for 10 weeks. Main Outcome Measures: A thorough evaluation of visual function, visual evoked potential, and diffusion tensor imaging was executed.

This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled adaptive study of the safety, tolerability, and exploratory efficacy of once-daily topical WST-057 administered for up to 19 weeks (or up to 24 weeks for subjects who experience a chemotherapy dose delay) to subjects who are also receiving 6 cycles (3 weeks apart) of Carboplatin AUC 5-6 and Paclitaxel 175 mg/m2 (with dose adjustment per institutional guidelines permitted).

Neuropathy is a costly and disabling health issue, which consists of a degeneration of the peripheral nerves. Even though the causes may be different, such as diabetes or amputation, the consequences for neuropathic patients are multiple and extremely debilitating. Among the alarming symptoms it implicates, chronic pain and sensory loss are among the most severe ones. Because of the loss of sensations, patients are forced to have an altered gait strategy, an impaired balance and a fivefold increased risk of falling. Furthermore, since they lose sensations and feel numbness in their extremity, they are discouraged in walking, hence leading to a sedentary lifestyle. All of this is worsened by the development of neuropathic pain, which has a high comorbidity with psychological issues, such as depression and anxiety. Today, proper treatments for neuropathic pain that exclude pharmacological solutions are still missing. This is due to the complexity of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the origin of neuropathy, the multifaceted physical and psychological nature of pain and the lack of reliable biomarkers. The aim of this project is to tackle the major problems connected to neuropathy thanks to non-invasive stimulation of the peripheral nervous system. The system is composed of an insole with pressure sensors that captures in real time the force exerted by the subject on the foot and couples this information with parameters of electrical stimulation. Thanks to optimal electrode placement and intensity modulation, subjects are able to perceive in real-time in a somatotopic manner (i.e., under their foot) how they are walking. The aim now is twofold: first the investigators want to couple this stimulation with Virtual Reality (VR) to develop a neuroadaptive non-invasive brain computer interface (BCI) to treat pain and secondly the investigators want to measure through fMRI scans whether the use of the sensory feedback system allows any beneficial plastic changes in the brain. Finally, the investigators want to measure through fMRI scans whether the use of the sensory feedback system allows any beneficial plastic changes in the brain.