11 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
Parkinson's Disease (PD) is often thought of as affecting movement only. In fact, most patients also experience psychiatric and cognitive symptoms, sometimes from the disease itself, and sometimes as a side-effect of PD medications. The goals of this study are to evaluate the causes, effects, and clinical correlates of psychiatric and cognitive symptoms in PD.
Carotid artery plaques are known to cause stroke. Cognitive impairment is an insidious but poorly understood problem in patients with carotid plaques. Cognitive function describes how people perform mental processes such as thinking, learning and problem solving. Asymptomatic carotid plaques may affect 1 million Veterans who may be at risk for cognitive impairment. In this study, the investigators will uncover the extent of cognitive impairment in Veterans with carotid stenosis who are currently labeled "asymptomatic". Programs to prevent or mitigate cognitive impairment will depend on identifying the mechanisms by which this occurs. The investigators will use sophisticated 3D imaging techniques developed by the group to measure the structure and composition of plaques, number of particles breaking off from them, blood levels of chemicals that could disrupt them, and blood flow restriction to the brain from them. This will help identify patients at risk for cognitive impairment who may benefit from preventative measures and improve selection of patients to decrease unnecessary surgical procedures.
This study is geared toward characterizing the recovery of brain activity and cognitive function following treatments of electroconvulsive therapy and ketamine general anesthesia.
A common complaint among patients with Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) is "brain fog" or difficulty concentrating. This problem is poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to better understand the cognitive dysfunction associated POTS, and to determine optimal treatment strategies for this condition. In this study, the investigators will test the hypothesis that acute administration of the psychostimulant drug modafinil can improve seated measures of cognitive function in patients with POTS.
Intensive care unit (ICU) hospitalization saves lives but often does so at a high personal cost to ICU survivors who frequently experience significant cognitive impairment and an array of physical and functional disabilities that limit their recovery and quality of life. While the problems experienced by these patients are likely amenable to rehabilitation, few ICU survivors receive focused rehabilitation. Recently, early physical rehabilitation in ICU patients has shown to improve the chances a patient will regain their pre-hospital functional status. Early cognitive rehabilitation for these patients has not yet been explored. This pilot study will determine the feasibility of early cognitive rehabilitation in ICU patients. The investigators will perform cognitive and physical rehabilitation, beginning in the earliest phases of critical illness, to determine the effect of these therapies on cognitive and functional outcomes in ICU survivors. The investigators hypothesize that combined cognitive and physical rehabilitation, started in the ICU, will improve recovery of cognitive and physical function as well as improve quality of life of ICU survivors.
The purpose of this study is to see if treatment with Ginkgo improves cognitive function in people with multiple sclerosis who have cognitive problems.
Control processes are classes of brain activity that initiate, coordinate, synchronize, and regulate elemental cognitive functions for the conduct of goal-directed behavior. The proposed research investigates whether exposure to a computer-based training protocol designed to enhance cognitive control processes will improve cognitive performance in healthy older adults.
A Blind-adjudication Multi-center Phase II Randomized Clinical Trial of Continuous Low-dose Intravenous Heparin Therapy in Coiled Low-grade Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Patients with Significant Hemorrhage Burden. - STUDY IS TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED WITH PLAN TO RESUME SOON. NO SAFETY CONCERNS
What is the research about? Long-term pain -or pain that lasts for months or years-is one of the most common health problems in the United States. Clinicians often treat long-term pain with opioids. Opioids can help ease pain in the short term, but evidence does not support their effectiveness in the long term. For some people, long-term opioid use can lead to addiction and overdose. People need effective options and support to help improve their function and enjoy life as much as possible. What is the research team doing? This study that compared two programs for helping people living with long-term pain to improve their function while managing their pain. People with long-term pain who had been taking opioid medicines for 3 or more months could be in the study. This study was done at primary care and pain care clinics at 3 health systems in North Carolina and Tennessee. The study team assigned people by chance to one of two study programs: (1) Shared Decision Making (SDM) or (2) Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Motivational Interviewing (CBT+MI). Both programs went by clinical guidelines for opioid prescribing. In the SDM program, the patient and clinician worked together to make decisions that were best for the patient. In the CBT+MI program, the patient learned strategies to better cope with chronic pain. The study team compared the two programs by looking at changes in opioid dose, physical functioning, and pain interference over time. They collected information on prescribed opioid dose from electronic health records. People did surveys at the start of the study and at 6 and 12 months. Study data collection is over, and the study team is analyzing data. Results are forthcoming. The study team worked with an advisory group that included patients, advocates, clinicians, and pain experts. The advisory group met with the study team two to three times per year to provide input on the study.
The primary objective of this clinical trial is to determine if treatment with ubiquinol, a form of coenzyme Q10, improves the physical function of men and women Veterans suffering from Gulf War Illness (GWI). The primary outcome measure is a change from baseline on the Short Form Health Survey 36-item (SF-36), with respect to physical functioning and symptoms. Secondary outcome measures include changes from baseline levels on GWI-associated biomarkers in peripheral blood and GWI-associated symptoms of chronic pain, fatigue, insomnia, activity level, and cognitive and mental functioning.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the use of polyethylene glycol is superior and more safe in treating hepatic encephalopathy compared to lactulose and also to determine if treatment with polyethylene glycol will reduce the duration of hospital stay.