Active clinical trials for "Sclerosis"

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a heterogeneous systemic autoimmune disease with distinct prognosis according to patients. Interstitial lung disease (ILD) concerns almost 50 % of SSc patients and represents the main cause of mortality. SSc-ILD is variable: from limited forms (with asymptomatic patients) to extensive lesions. Disease course in SSc-ILD is also highly variable: patients can experience stable disease, slow or fast progression. Investigators performed unsupervised clustering analysis to classify SSc-ILD according to elementary radiological lesions on HRCT scan.

The purpose of this study is to collect, from patients with sporadic and familial ALS and their family members, clinical data and blood samples for extraction of DNA, RNA, preparation of lymphocytes, plasma and serum to establish a repository for future investigations of genetic contributions to ALS pathogenesis. Blood samples for DNA extraction also would be collected from control subjects with no personal or family history of ALS phenotypes.

This is a retrospective and prospective, observational mixed-methods (quantitative and qualitative) cohort study of patients who are treated with either Ofatumumab or Ocrelizumab that will be recruited and followed up for one year to collect their profiles across the Gulf countries.

This study aims to develop and validate a sensitive and non-invasive eye-tracking software application. This study will obtain participant responses to brief cognitive tests designed to evaluate several key functions known to be affected by MS and non-invasive eye movement measurements in response to visually presented stimuli during specifically designed eye-tracking tests. The study data will be used to develop machine learning algorithms and validate a software application intended to track the progressive component of multiple sclerosis and associated cognitive changes.

The primary objective of the study is to estimate the prevalence of major congenital malformations (MCMs) and compare the prevalence between the diroximel fumarate (DRF) and comparator groups. The secondary objectives of the study are to estimate the incidence of spontaneous abortion (SA) and compare the incidence between the DRF and comparator groups; to estimate the incidence of preterm birth and compare the incidence between the DRF and comparator groups; to estimate the incidence of stillbirth and compare the incidence between the DRF and comparator groups and to estimate the prevalence of small for gestational age (SGA) and compare the prevalence between the DRF and comparator groups.

Personal identity is composed of multiple facets of the self that are constructed and nourished through memories of past experiences (i.e., autobiographical memory) and the imagination of events that may occur in the future (i.e., future thinking) . While our previous work has shown that people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (pwRRMS) have autobiographical memory and future thought disorders, their impact on personal identity has not yet been explored. Based on a cognitive and clinical neuropsychology approach, this research project aims to better understand the cognitive mechanisms involved in the relationship between identity, autobiographical memory and future thinking in pwRRMS. We will examine the extent to which pwRRMS manage to maintain and reshape their identity through life experiences, with a particular interest in the potential integration of the disease as a facet of their identity. In addition, we will explore the positive and/or negative consequences of disease-related identity changes on emotional well-being and quality of life, as well as their links with the duration and severity of the disease. Overall, this research project will contribute to identify new therapeutic levers that can be used for the development of adapted and personalized care.

The overarching goal of this research protocol is to acquire eye-tracking, cognitive, and disease-severity metrics in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients to further build up a database of MS patients and train a machine learning classifying algorithms to identify which eye-tracking metrics-or combination thereof-can serve as reliable markers of MS disease severity and cognitive status.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease that damages the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). This leads to increased physical disability over time. The disease is lifelong once it begins. Researchers want to learn more about MS s stages and follow them until a person s death. Objective: To understand how the physical and clinical signs of MS relate to its changes over time. Eligibility: Adults age 18 or older with MS or a disease of the brain and spinal cord that may act like MS. Design: Participants will have a medical history and a complete neurological exam. They may have timed tests of neurological function, such as a 25-foot walk and a 9-hole peg test. Participants will have multi-day visits about once a year. Participants will have blood drawn. Participants may have a brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. They may also have an MRI of the spinal cord. They may get a contrast agent (dye) injected into a tube in an arm vein. During the MRI, participants will lie on a table that slides in and out of a metal cylinder. Participants will have the thickness of their retina measured using optical coherence tomography. A camera on top of a table uses lasers. Participants will look through a lens and follow instructions. Eye drops may be used to dilate the pupils. Participants will chew on a piece of sterile cotton for 1 minute to collect saliva. Participants agree to have an autopsy at the time of their death and to donate some of their organs to research, such as the brain and spinal cord.

Pre-fALS is a prospective natural history and biomarker study of people not yet affected with ALS, but who are at genetic risk for developing ALS. The investigators aim to recruit unaffected (healthy) people from familial ALS (fALS) pedigrees in which a known genetic mutation associated with ALS has been identified; for this study, a fALS pedigree is one with two biologically related individuals who have or have had ALS and/or FTD. Individuals who may be at genetic risk for ALS and who belong to families with at least one affected family member who has tested positive for a known ALS genetic mutation may also be eligible to participate. Our goal is to study the pre-symptomatic phase, onset and progression of ALS and to learn more about genetic and environmental factors that put people at risk for developing ALS.

The properness of our past choices and action is usually judged according to what could have been if we had behaved differently. This ability to simulate alternatives to past factual events and actions is called counterfactual thinking (CFT) and is closely related to the decision-making process and future behaviors. In fact, the generation of CFT fulfills an important preparatory function, since it offers behavioral instructions that can guide the individual in facing similar decision-making problems in the future. Consequently, a damage or a reduction in the CFT are likely to impact on the individual's decision-making (DM) ability, especially regarding crucial decisions such as those in the medical field. In recent years, growing evidence has highlighted alterations in CFT in several neurological, neurodegenerative and psychiatric conditions, such as Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, prefrontal cortex damage, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and major depressive disorder, underlining how CFT deficits are specifically associated with frontal-executive dysfunction. These alterations, as mentioned, can lead to non-optimal DM processes and behaviors. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by the loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord, brain stem and motor cortex. Literature data have highlighted the presence of cognitive and behavioral alterations as integral parts of the disease, as a part of a continuum, with a partial overlap, between ALS and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The progressive and fatal course of the disease and the presence of cognitive/behavioral alterations, together with the impairment in communication skills, have significant implications on patient's competence in the advance care planning, especially regarding informed consent to advance treatment and end-of-life decision. In particular, patients' perspectives about therapeutic choices and end-of-life interventions are likely to be influenced by cognitive-behavioral aspects, where the integrity of frontal-executive functions plays a crucial role in patients' DM ability. The investigators hypothesize that ALS patients will show a certain deficit in CFT, both in the ability to generate counterfactual thoughts related to a negative real-life and in the ability to use CFT to make causal inferences in fictional social scenarios. Moreover, a relationship between CFT and DM abilities is expected to be found. These expected impairments are likely to be associated with the cognitive and behavioral alterations that typically occur in ALS. Primary aim The primary purpose of the study is to investigate the integrity of CFT ability in patients with ALS. Specifically, this study aims to: (1) evaluate the functioning of the CFT in a group of patients affected by ALS; (2) investigate how the functioning of the CFT is associated with the ALS typical cognitive-behavioral alterations; (3) evaluate the possible association between CFT and DM abilities; (4) investigate how clinical, psychological, cognitive and behavioral variables affect CFT integrity. Secondary aim CFT ability will be investigated along the course of the disease, with patients being recruited in a longitudinal study. When possible, according to clinical conditions, patients will be assessed at 0-6-12-24 months, in order to better characterize CFT and DM functioning over time, as well as patients' cognitive-behavioral profile. . We expect to highlight a deficit or a reduction in patients' CFT ability and such alteration is likely to be associated with DM skills, as well as with the specific cognitive and behavioral profile of ALS patients.