Healthy Paid Clinical Trials in Maryland

Background: As people age, the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin begin to release less of this hormone, and levels of blood glucose (sugar) rise. This can lead to illnesses such as diabetes. Urolithin A (UA) is a natural nutritional supplement that may improve how the body controls blood glucose. Objective: To learn if UA improves levels of insulin and other hormones that help control blood glucose. Eligibility: People aged 55 years and older with a body mass index of 27 or higher. Design: Participants will have 6 clinic visits over 8 weeks. Participants will be screened. They will have a physical exam with blood and urine tests and a test of their heart function. UA gelcaps are taken by mouth every morning at home. Half of participants will take UA. The other half will take a placebo. The placebo looks like the study drug but does not contain any medicine. Participants will not know which they are taking. Participants will have tests during the study including: Oral glucose tolerance: Participants will drink a sweet liquid. Blood will be drawn at intervals over the next 3 hours. Continuous glucose monitor: A sensor with a needle that goes just under the skin will be placed on the upper arm. Participants will wear this sensor throughout the study. Exercise. Participants will walk on a treadmill while their heart rate, hearth rhythm, and blood pressure are monitored. They will walk in a hallway at normal and fast paces. Imaging scans of the thigh; scans of the brain are optional.... Read Less

Background: People use virtual reality (VR) technology to play games, socialize, work, or receive medical care. Some people have "cybersickness" after using VR. Cybersickness is similar to motion sickness. Symptoms include eye strain, nausea, dizziness, or headache. The symptoms are usually mild and go away after the person stops using VR. New software called Motion Reset is being designed to reduce symptoms of cybersickness during VR use. Objective: To see if Motion Reset software can reduce cybersickness in people using VR. Eligibility: Healthy adults aged 18 to 60 years. Design: Participants will have 1 clinic visit that will last about 1 hour. They will answer questions about how they are feeling. They will learn how to use the VR headset and the handheld game controllers. The study will be broken into 2 parts. For the first part, participants will be assigned to 1 of 3 groups: Group 1 will participate in a VR experience designed to prevent cybersickness. They will view screens and move around while they press buttons on a controller. Group 2 will participate in a VR experience that is not designed to prevent cybersickness. They will view screens and move around while they press buttons on a controller. Group 3 will have no VR experience. Participants will complete 2 questionnaires about their experiences in the first part of the study. For the second part, all participants will spend up to 20 minutes playing a commercial VR game called Jurassic World Aftermath. Every few minutes, they will be asked if they are experiencing discomfort. After playing the game, participants will complete 12 questionnaires about their experience.... Read Less

Background: The use of electronic cigarettes (vaping) has increased among adolescents over the past decade. Vaping raises many health concerns. People who vape inhale toxic chemicals. Vaping is also linked with mental health issues, such as depression and suicide risk. In one survey, 85% of young adults reported that they used both vaping and tobacco products; the primary reason they cited for using these products was stress. Objective: This natural history study will survey adolescents and their parents about their attitudes toward vaping. Eligibility: People aged 13 to 18, including those who vape; those who once vaped; and those who have never vaped. Parents of people aged 13 to 18 who are known or suspected of vaping are also needed. Design: Participants will take a survey. They will use their own smartphone, computer, or tablet to answer questions. The survey will take about 20 minutes. Their answers will be anonymous. Teenage participants will answer questions on different topics: Vaping habits, such as when and how they vape. Drug use, including nicotine, cannabis, and alcohol. Mood issues, such as depression, anxiety, and stress. Social influences on vaping, including perceived attitudes of parents and peers. Other leisure habits, including online gaming and use of social media. Parents will answer similar questions. A phone number and links will be given to participants who need help for suicidal thoughts. Other links will be given to those who want help with parenting resources or aids to quit vaping. Participants may be invited to take part in an 8-week course on mindfulness-based stress reduction. Participants who finish the survey will receive 10 dollars. ... Read Less

Background: People with HIV take drugs to keep the amount of virus in their body low. One type of these drugs, called integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs), can cause weight gain over time. Weight gain can cause diabetes, heart disease, and other serious issues. Researchers want to understand how INSTIs cause weight changes. Objective: To see how a common INSTI, dolutegravir (DTG), affects how the body uses energy. DTG will be compared with a non-INSTI drug, tenofovir alafenamide (TAF). Eligibility: Healthy people aged 18 to 55. Design: Participants will be screened. They will have a physical exam and blood tests. They will have a nutritional assessment and tests of their heart function. Participants will have 2 inpatient stays at the clinic. Each stay will be for 11 nights, with a 3-week break between. Both DTG and TAF are gel caps swallowed once per day by mouth. Participants will take 1 drug for 8 days during each stay. Participants will have tests to see how their body uses energy: They will spend 23 continuous hours in a special room that measures how much oxygen they breathe in and how much carbon dioxide they breathe out. They will do this a total of 6 times. They will have a DEXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry). DEXA is a kind of X-ray that measures body fat and bone density. They will lie on a table. Electrodes will be placed on their hands and feet to measure body fat and lean body mass. They will stand still on a platform for about 30 seconds. High-resolution laser cameras will scan their bodies. Read Less

Background: Many tasks people do every day require a series of individual movements. Control over these movements is called motor skills. But even highly skilled people can make mistakes. Researchers have found that they can predict when a person will make a mistake 0.1 second before it happens. Now, they want to find out if they can increase that time up to 1 second-long enough to warn the person and prevent the mistake. Objective: To see if motor skill errors can be detected up to 1 second before they occur. Eligibility: Right-handed healthy adults aged 18 to 35. Design: Participants will have 2 to 5 study visits. Each visit will be 1 to 2 hours. They will have a physical and neurological exam. They will have 1 or 2 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. They will lie on a table that slides into a large cylinder. The MRI uses strong magnets to capture images of the inside of the body, including the brain. They will have another scan, called magnetoencephalography (MEG). Small metal disks attached to wires will be taped to their head. Participants will sit in a padded chair with their head inside of a helmet. The helmet will not cover their eyes or face. Participants will perform a series of typing tasks on a keyboard. They will have short breaks between each round. Their head movements will be tracked, and their eye and finger movements will be videotaped. Read Less

Objective The current proposal investigates behavioral, psychophysiological, and social processes that may help explain biases and disparate outcomes in pain. Health disparities, or health outcomes that adversely affect disadvantaged populations, are pervasive and apparent in many diseases and symptoms, including pain. Pain is the number one reason individuals seek medical treatment. Health disparities in pain encompass both differences in pain experience and treatment for pain. For instance, research indicates that Black individuals report increased pain and have reduced pain tolerance relative to White individuals, yet doctors are less likely to treat minority patients pain and underestimate their pain experience. This project aims to address this systemic discrepancy by focusing on interpersonal processes that may contribute to these disparities, including socially-relevant responses to pain (i.e. pain expression) and pain assessment (e.g. visual attention). The proposed research aims to determine whether the study of pain expressions and their assessment can yield insights on how social factors shape pain and its treatment. Further, we test the efficacy of potential interventions designed to improve accuracy and reduce biases in pain assessment. If successful, this work will form the foundation of a new research program that will link the field of pain research with the field of social neuroscience, and forge new insights on the critical problem of health disparities in pain. Study population We will accrue up to 700 total healthy volunteers to target 240 completers Design Our overall aim is to understand how social factors influence the assessment and management of pain, and to gain insight into psychosocial processes that may underlie health disparities in pain. We propose a series of studies designed to test these links. First, we will measure pain perception and physiological responses to painful stimuli in a diverse group of individuals to test for sociocultural and biological influences on pain and pain-related responses. In subsequent studies, new participants ("perceivers") will view images of these initial participants ("targets") and will provide estimates of 'targets' pain experience. We will measure a) whether perceivers can accurately estimate 'targets' pain experience; b) whether accuracy differs as a function of similarity between target and perceiver (ingroup vs outgroup); and c) whether individuals can improve accuracy through feedback. Outcome measures Primary outcome measures for all experiments will be decisions about pain (experienced by self or other) measured with visual analogue scales, reaction time, and/or categorical judgments (pain/no pain). We will also measure physiological responses (e.g., facial muscle response, skin conductance, pupil dilation) and brain responses using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as secondary outcome measures. We will test whether pain and pain-related responses varies as a function of sociocultural/demographic factors (e.g. race, ethnicity, sex) and whether accuracy in assessing others' pain is influenced by group similarity (i.e. ingroup vs. outgroup) and training (e.g. performance-related feedback).... Read Less

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK), and pharmacodynamics (PD) of single and multiple ascending doses of AZD4954 in healthy participants with or without elevated Lipoprotein(a) (Lp\[a\]) levels. Read Less

Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a leading cause of disease and death worldwide. New treatments for AUD are needed. Dopamine, a chemical that carries signals between brain cells, is thought to play a role in alcohol addiction. Researchers want to learn how Suvorexant, a drug used to treat sleep disorders, affects dopamine receptors in the brain. Objective: To see how Suvorexant affects dopamine receptors in people with AUD and in healthy people. Eligibility: People aged 18 to 75 years seeking treatment for AUD. Healthy volunteers are also needed. Design: Participants with AUD will stay in the clinic for at least 3 to 4 weeks for alcohol detoxification. They will receive normal treatment for AUD. Suvorexant is a medicine used to treat sleep problem that is taken taken by mouth, once a day. Some participants will take the study drug. Others will take a placebo. The placebo looks like the study drug but does not contain any medicine. Participants will not know which they are taking. Participants will wear a device that looks like a wristwatch to track their movements during their clinic stay. Participants will have blood tests and 3 brain imaging scans before starting on the study drug: 2 positron emission tomography (PET) and 1 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. They will be injected with a radioactive tracer during each PET scan. Participants will have tests to assess their thinking, memory, and attention. They will have sleep studies. Imaging scans and other tests will be repeated at the end of the study. Healthy volunteers will have 1 MRI and 2 PET scans. They will have tests to assess of their thinking, memory, and attention. They will wear a wristwatch like movement monitor for 1 week. ... Read Less

Background: The microbiome is the bacteria and other microorganisms that live inside and on the body. The microbiome is important for our health. Researchers study how the microbiome help people stay healthy. They study how the microbiome affects the body when people get sick. To do this research, they need samples of the microbiome living on the bodies of many people. The purpose of this natural history study is to collect microbiome samples in a repository. These samples will be used for future research. Objective: To collect microbiome samples from the body that can be used for future research. Eligibility: People of any age. Only those older than 3 years will be seen at the NIH clinic. Design: Participants will fill out a questionnaire. Topics will include their medical history and foods they eat. Participants will be asked to give 1 or more of the following: Stool, urine, saliva, vaginal fluid, and breastmilk. These samples can be collected at home and sent to the researchers. Cells from participants cheek, nose, mouth, skin, rectum, and/or vagina. The cells may be collected by rubbing the area with a sterile cotton swab. These procedures can also be done at home. Blood. Blood may be drawn using a needle inserted into a vein in the arm. For young children, blood may be collected by a prick on the heel or finger. Intestinal tissue samples. These may be collected from participants who are having an endoscopy or colonoscopy for other reasons. Skin tissue samples. These may be collected from participants who are having biopsies for other reasons. Read Less

Background: During the first few decades of life, the brain changes dramatically in shape and function. Sleep lets researchers measure these changes. Researchers want to create a database of sleep and neurodevelopmental data in a group of infants and children to learn more. Objective: To address a knowledge and data gap in the field of sleep and neurodevelopment in infants and children. Eligibility: Children ages 6 months to 76 months who may or may not be at risk for neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. Also, children ages 6 months to 8 years who have a referral for a sleep study. Design: Participants will have neurodevelopmental testing. They will have a medical, psychiatric, and family history. They will have a physical and neurological exam. They will be interviewed and complete surveys. They will give a cheek swab and/or blood sample. Some participants will have 1 study visit that lasts 2 days. Other participants will have up to 4 study visits. Each visit will last 2 days. Visits occur every 8 months to 1 year, for a total participation time of 2 years. Participants will have a 20-minute daytime electroencephalogram (EEG), if possible. This EEG session will be used to calibrate the machine for the overnight study. Participants will take part in an inpatient overnight sleep study. Electrodes will be placed on the participants. For young children, parents will help place the EEG leads. Other sensors may also be placed. A gauze cap will be placed on participants head to protect the leads and keep the participants from moving them. 'Lights out' will occur as close to participants bedtime as possible. ... Read Less

Background: - Researchers at the National Institutes of Health give many tests of hearing and balance. These tests can help detect problems that affect hearing or balance. It is important to know exactly how healthy people perform on each of these tests. This information will indicate when a test result is normal and when a test result shows a problem. Researchers also want to determine the best methods for each test. Objectives: - To test different types of hearing and balance tests, and collect information on normal values for each test. Eligibility: - Healthy volunteers between 5 and 80 years of age. Design: * This study will require a single visit to the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. It will include both screening tests and study tests of hearing and balance. Sometimes, a second visit may be required if a test is designed to measure the same thing on 2 different days. Each visit will last between 2 and 5 hours, depending on the number of tests scheduled per visit. * Participants will have a physical exam and medical history. They will also have basic tests to check for normal hearing and balance. * Participants may have different hearing tests, including the following: * Auditory Evoked Potentials to study how the ears and brain handle sound information. * Auditory Processing Tests to study how a person processes complex sounds like speech in background noise. * Tests of middle ear and inner ear function. * Participants may have different balance and inner ear tests, including the following: * Balance test on a tilting platform. * Different tests to measure how well the eyes, ears, and brain work together to help maintain balance. * Treatment will not be needed as part of this study. Read Less

The Hematology Branch of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute is doing a variety of laboratory research experiments that require blood and tissue samples from healthy volunteers. This protocol provides a mechanism for collecting these tissue samples. Research includes studies of normal and abnormal formation of blood cells, viral blood diseases, the role of the immune system in marrow failure and genetic risk factors for aplastic anemia. Healthy normal volunteers 8 years of age and older may be eligible for this study. Samples are collected as follows: * Blood samples: Participants 8 years of age and older donate up to 4 tablespoons of blood, which is obtained from a needle placed in an arm vein. * Participants 8 years of age and older donate a buccal mucosa sample (cells from the inside of the cheek). The inside of the cheek is scraped gently with a nylon brush. * Participants 18 years of age and older donate a bone marrow sample. The bone marrow is obtained from the hip bone. The skin over the area is wiped clean with alcohol and iodine, and then a local anesthetic is injected under the skin and also into the bone. When the area is numb, a bone marrow aspiration needle is introduced through the bone surface into the marrow. The marrow cells are collected using a syringe connected to the needle. Read Less