Active clinical trials for "Sclerosis"

The aim of the study is to analyze the effects of Nordic Walking and free walking in the clinical-functional, postural balance, motor control, muscular echographic quality, and gait analysis (pendulum gait mechanism), in people with Multiple Sclerosis.

Inflammatory or degenerative diseases of the brain and spinal cord, such as multiple sclerosis, may be related to problems with an individual s immune system. However, more information is needed on the ways in which the cells of the immune system interact with the central nervous system (CNS). This study will compare tests performed on both healthy volunteers and individuals who have signs or symptoms of immune-related damage to their CNS. This study will include two groups of subjects at least 12 years old. Subjects will either have symptoms of immune-related CNS damage, or will be healthy volunteers selected for comparison purposes. Study participants will visit the NIH Clinical Center on an outpatient basis for an initial evaluation visit. During the visit, patients will provide a comprehensive medical history and undergo a neurological examination, and will provide blood samples for research purposes. The healthy volunteers will be asked to schedule a return visit for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedure, and may be asked to undergo other tests requested by the study researchers on an as-needed basis. The group of patients with symptoms of immune-related CNS damage will be asked to undergo a series of tests, including the following: MRI procedures, with a minimum of three brain MRIs and one spinal cord MRI taken approximately 4 weeks apart A diagnostic lumbar puncture, performed on an outpatient basis Tests of brain and vision activity Additional blood and tissue samples All study participants will return for a followup visit 1 year after the initial evaluation visit. Patients with symptoms of immune-related CNS damage may be offered the opportunity to participate in additional followup tests with NIH researchers.

The Objective of this study is to evaluate the heart rate variability in individuals with multiple sclerosis during the applicability of Acupuncture, to analyze the behavior of the autonomic nervous system before, during, and after therapy and the changes of the condition.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is characterized by episodic attacks in which there are sharp declines in physical function. Although neurorehabilitation is the most promising clinical strategy for motor recovery in patients with MS, treatment responsiveness and outcomes are mixed. This is perhaps because each individual with MS has a different capacity to improve with rehabilitation, and this capacity may be based on a variety of baseline factors, such as disease duration, motivation, cognitive status and integrity of underlying brain structures. A better understanding of what "key ingredients" facilitate relearning of motor skills during neurorehabilitation is critically needed. Much of the focus of rehabilitation is on relearning motor skills. The initial stage of learning a motor skills often requires explicit concentration on the details of the movement. As one becomes more proficient in the motor skill, it becomes less attention-demanding and more automatic. Those who can perform motor skills more automatically will be better able to manage the additional demands of a secondary task; thus, capacity for dual-task performance can be used as an index of automaticity. Individuals with MS experience demyelination that impacts brain areas critical for motor learning. However, the specific clinical and pathological variables that facilitate capacity for motor learning in people with MS have not been identified. Identification of such variables could be leveraged to determine a patient's capacity to benefit from neurorehabilitation at the outset and potentially to maximize motor learning during rehabilitation for people with MS. Thus, there is an urgent need to determine the key ingredients most strongly associated with successful relearning of motor skills in MS patients. Our long-term goal is to develop individualized rehabilitation for persons with MS. Our overall objective in this application is to identify clinical and pathological variables associated with successful relearning of motor skills. Our central hypothesis, based on preliminary data, is that the ability to learn to make new movements automatically occurs over a dynamic range and is a function of available cognitive processing speed and the integrity of corticospinal tract and superior cerebellar peduncles. We will test these hypotheses by recruiting 146 individuals with relapsing-remitting MS to participate in a mechanistic trial not designed to be a therapeutic intervention. Participants will complete baseline testing (including neuroimaging, cognitive testing and dual-task performance) followed by 4 consecutive days of training on a challenging balance task. After a 2-day washout period, participants will return for post-testing (including dual-task performance on a dual-balance and working memory task). The rationale for the proposed research is that identification of key ingredients associated with the capacity for motor skill acquisition would allow for more targeted rehabilitation programming, thereby improving patient outcomes and reducing health care expenses. At the completion of the proposed research, we expect to understand more about the capacity for individuals with MS to improve with motor skill training, and some of the key ingredients that help predict successful shift toward task automaticity, one critical component of successful neurorehabilitation. The results of this proposal will facilitate the development of predictors of motor recovery, needed to improve rehabilitation outcomes for individuals with MS and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Multiple sclerosis is the most common disabling neurological disease in young adults. Inflammation, demyelination, neurodegeneration, gliosis and repair processes are involved in its process, which are responsible for the heterogeneity and individual variability in the expression of the disease, the prognosis and the response to treatment. Clinically, MS manifests itself with the following symptoms: sensory focus, motor focus, spasticity, balance disorders, visual disturbances such as loss of vision or double vision or sphincter dysfunction. The main subtypes of MS are relapsing-remitting, secondary progressive, primary progressive, and progressive relapsing. Clinically, RRMS presents the initial inflammatory phase, characterized by reversible flares with neurological dysfunction, followed by periods of remission. Approximately 40-50% of these patients progress to SPMS, where the disease gradually progresses from intermittent flare-ups to steadily progressive worsening, resulting in permanent disability due to massive axonal loss. PPMS is the most severe subtype, affecting approximately 10% of all cases, and manifesting as progressive degeneration without any remission.

The aim of this study is to understand how well a 6-week virtual yogic breathing exercise program (YBEP) will improve breathing, speech, and emotional well-being in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Calcinosis, i.e. crystal-like nodules are troublesome complication of systemic sclerosis, an autoimmune disease. Pyrophosphate inhibits its formation is laborytory. We would like to test if orally administered pyrophosphate prevents calcinosis formation.

Denervation of neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) and initial compensatory reinnervation is the earliest pathological event in various motor neuron disease models, occurring far before motor symptom onset. In patients harboring genetic mutations responsible for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), identification of early, pre-symptomatic, NMJ pathological events and compensatory mechanisms could lead to the development of new treatments to prevent motor functional impairment. The aims of our study are thus: To investigate and characterize early, presymptomatic, defects of NMJ morphology in pre-manifest C9ORF72 or SOD1 mutation carriers; To investigate and quantify reinnervation at the level of NMJs in these subjects; To identify muscle molecular dysregulated pathways involved in the development of NMJ alterations and the development / maintenance of compensatory collateral reinnervation.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results play a major role in the lives of people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). Even though MRI is used for diagnosis, prognosis and therapy control, pwMS' knowledge concerning this complex matter is scarce. Without adequate disease-specific knowledge, pwMS cannot truly make an informed choice when considering their MRI results (e.g. necessity of future MRI scans or therapy change). The investigators have developed an innovative, evidence-based and interactive online education tool called "Understanding MRI in MS", which incorporates all relevant information about MRI in MS and its implications in disease management. In this randomized, controlled and double-blind trial the tool's effect on MRI-specific knowledge, self-perceived competence and involvement in medical decision, that are based on MRI results will be assessed.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate if monthly natalizumab, initiated after delivery, is effective in preventing postpartum relapses.