Dementia Paid Clinical Trials in North Carolina

This study aims to develop and evaluate biomarkers using non-invasive optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA) as well as ultra-widefield (UWF) fundus photography to assess the structure and function of the retinal and choroidal microvasculature and structure in persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Parkinson's Disease (PD), or other neurodegenerative disease, diseases as outlined. Read Less

The overall goal of the DISCOVERY study is to better understand what factors contribute to changes in cognitive (i.e., thinking and memory) abilities in patients who experienced a stroke. The purpose of the study is to help doctors identify patients at risk for dementia (decline in memory, thinking and other mental abilities that significantly affects daily functioning) after their stroke so that future treatments may be developed to improve outcomes in stroke patients. For this study, a "stroke" is defined as either (1) an acute ischemic stroke (AIS, or blood clot in the brain), (2) an intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH, or bleeding in the brain), (3) or an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH, or bleeding around the brain caused by an abnormal bulge in a blood vessel that bursts). The investigators hypothesize that: 1. The size, type and location of the stroke play an important role in recovery of thinking and memory abilities after stroke, and pre-existing indicators of brain health further determine the extent of this recovery. 2. Specific stroke events occurring in individuals with underlying genetic or biological risk factors can cause further declines in brain heath, leading to changes in thinking and memory abilities after stroke. 3. Studying thinking and memory alongside brain imaging and blood samples in patients who have had a stroke allows for earlier identification of declining brain health and development of individualized treatment plans to improve patient outcomes in the future. Read Less

The purpose of the study is to establish a clinical cohort for the Duke/UNC Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC). The cohort will be composed of subjects ages 25 to 44 at enrollment with normal cognition and subjects ages 45 to 80 at enrollment with normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment, or a dementia diagnosis. Initial data including demographics, medical and family history, physical exam, and neuropsychological testing will be obtained. Participants will be asked to contribute a blood sample, a urine sample, a cerebrospinal fluid sample, and undergo a MRI scan. The cohort ages 45 to 80 will be seen yearly until death to evaluate medical status, undergo neuropsychological testing and possibly collect additional samples or undergo additional imaging. All data will be de-identified and stored by the ADRC. The purpose of this study is to examine normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) as people get older. The investigators also hope to be able to assess risk factor information of the role of genes and environmental exposures (for example health conditions, diet, and medications) in Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD) and other conditions of aging. The biological samples collected in the study will create a repository. A repository is a collection of blood and tissue samples from people with certain diseases and conditions. For the purpose of this research, the investigators hope to help researchers learn more about Alzheimer's disease and related disorders and other conditions of aging. Read Less

Dementia is the most expensive medical condition in the US and increases in prevalence with age. More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia. Mild cognitive impairment is a transitional stage between normal cognitive aging and Alzheimer's disease or another type of dementia, and is indicative of higher risk for dementia. In addition to the obvious health and quality-of-life ramifications of dementia, there are high direct (e.g., subsidizing residential care needs) and indirect (e.g., lost productivity of family caregivers) economic costs. Implementing interventions to prevent MCI and dementia among older adults is of critical importance to health and maintained quality-of-life for millions of Americans. Recent data analyses from the Advanced Cognitive Training in Vital Elderly study (ACTIVE) indicate that a specific cognitive intervention, speed of processing training (SPT), significantly delays the incidence of cognitive impairment across 10 years. The primary contribution of the proposed research will be the determination of whether this cognitive training technique successfully delays the onset of clinically defined MCI or dementia across three years. Read Less