Active clinical trials for "Motor Neuron Disease"

The purpose of this study is to learn about rates of patient-reported disease progression in patients with motor neuron diseases (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, progressive muscular atrophy, primary lateral sclerosis, hereditary spastic paraplegia) outside the clinical setting, and the patient-reported clinical characteristics that influence this rate of progression. All patients enrolled in CReATe Connect, a Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (RDCRN) Contact Registry, will be invited via email to participate in this study.

Preliminary evaluation of an obstacle alerting system to enhance the user's independent mobility by improving their confidence to drive and their safety in driving a powered wheelchair.

This study is designed to be a pragmatic, single-arm trial to evaluate the efficacy, implementation, and feasibility of an online ALS-specific self-compassion training program to enhance self-compassion and improve quality of life.

The purpose of the project is to obtain skin and adipose tissue samples from patients with ALS to develop new diagnostic and prognostic markers of the disease. These samples will be obtained when percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is performed as part of their standard of care. Skin and adipose tissue samples will also be obtained from disease control subjects who require a PEG as part of their standard of care.

The role of hyperlipidemia and lipid lowering therapy (LLT) in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) pathophysiology and its impact on disease progression and survival is unclear. The investigators analyzed the correlation between lipid levels with disease progression and survival in ALS patients and the association of LLT with these outcomes.

This is a study in patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). We will use muscle ultrasound as a tool to try and see if there are changes in muscle size that can find out how fast ALS is progressing. This might give us a better way to carry out further studies on new drugs to see if they might help slow the progression of ALS. Participants in the study will have muscle ultrasound performed on a few muscles in the arms and legs at the first visit, and again 3 months later, and one last time 3 months after that. This takes about 10 minutes, is painless, and involves scanning the muscle with a handheld device, with some gel applied to the skin. At each visit, there will also be a questionnaire about symptoms and strength testing.

We are collecting blood samples, clinical and family information from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) patients and their families to identify causes of ALS and ALS/dementia.

PET imaging of activated microglia offers a tool of investigation of a range of brain diseases where neuroinflammation is a component. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is the most frequent motoneuronal disease in adult. This study was designed to explore the feasibility of molecular imaging modality by Positron Emission Tomography using 18F-X as an in vivo marker of activated microglia for the assessment of neuroinflammation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. PET may help in the diagnosis of the disease and, further, may allow assessment of the efficacy of antiinflammatory treatment.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a rare but rapidly progressive neurological disease that often results in death within a few years after the diagnosis. The incidence of ALS in the US is approximately 2.0/100,000/year and is age dependent. Very few epidemiological studies have investigated the causes of ALS. Last year, Dr. Alberto Ascherio at Harvard School of Public Health successfully obtained a RO1 grant to investigate the risk of ALS by documenting ALS cases in five well-established large prospective cohorts: The Nurses' Health Study (NHS), the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS), the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort (CPS IIN), the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC), and the NIH-American Association of Retired Persons Diet and Health Study (AARP-DH). The primary aims of this grant are to prospectively clarify the associations between diet and smoking and risk of ALS in this to date the largest epidemiological study on ALS. Incident ALS cases will be documented via biennial questionnaires in the first three cohorts. While mortality data will be obtained in the MEC and AARP-DH cohorts by searching the National Death Index (NDI) Plus, it is also desirable to identify surviving incident cases in these two cohorts. The objective of this specific proposal is to ascertain the self-reported incident ALS cases from the AARP-DH study and obtain consent for medical release following the procedures set up for Parkinson's disease (PD) cases in the currently approved Parkinson's Genes and Environment (PAGE) Study IRB approval #06-E-N093. The confirmed ALS cases may be analyzed as part of the RO1 project. We expect to identify 300 self-reported ALS cases from the AARP cohort. Detailed analytic plans will be coordinated with Dr. Ascherio.

Objective: The objectives of this protocol are: to develop and maintain a repository of clinically characterized patients with primary lateral sclerosis for future research protocols, to characterize the natural history of neurodegenerative disorders with corticospinal neuron degeneration, to investigate proposed etiologies, risk factors, and biomarkers for the development of these disorders and for disease progression Study Population: 240 patients with adult-onset progressive spasticity with a diagnosis of primary lateral sclerosis or related upper motor neuron disorder Design: Patients who have been referred by physicians for primary lateral sclerosis will undergo a screening evaluation at the first visit. The screening visit will include review of outside medical records, neurological examination, and diagnostic testing to determine possible causes of spasticity. Patients fulfilling the clinical criteria for primary lateral sclerosis by history or examination will be followed to determine the natural history of this disorder. Measures of motor and cognitive function will be made at baseline and follow-up visits to follow clinical progression. Magnetic resonance imaging will be carried out to determine if imaging changes occur over time. Patients identified in this protocol who are eligible for other research protocols will be invited to participate in additional protocols. Outcome Measures: Clinical progression will be documented by measures of finger-tapping, timed gait, speech. The association between clinical progression and MRI measures will be assessed as a secondary outcome....