Volume 16, Number 3
THERAPY'S ROAD
Surveying the Latest Neuro-Related Trials
Anxiety
Is your child excessively anxious? An NIMH-sponsored, Hopkins-coordinated study evaluates use of psychotherapy and investigational medication for children and adolescents, ages 7 to 17, troubled by anxiety. Typical symptoms include reluctance to go to school, camp or sleepovers; fear of being separated from parents, even for a short time; excessive shyness and anxiety about social situations; constant worrying; extreme nervousness for presentations or tests at school; frequent visits to the school nurse for headaches and stomachaches. Participants meet once a week for the 12-week study, with an additional six months' treatment available if the study approach is effective.* Call Nicole at 410-614-4460.
Bipolar Disorder or Mania
Hopkins' Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry is conducting a multisite NIMH study to test usefulness of various medications in treating children and adolescents with bipolar disorder or mania. Subjects ages 6 to 15 will be randomly assigned to lithium, valproate or risperidone, depending on medical history. They'll receive study treatments weekly for eight to 16 weeks. Call Maureen Masarik at 410-955-8391.
Bulimia Nervosa
In a search for biological targets that maintain bulimia nervosa, a Hopkins team including psychiatrist Angela Guarda, M.D., and radiologist James Frost, M.D., is participating in an NIH- sponsored PET scan study of women ages 18 to 35. Subjects receive two PET scans, 10 weeks of free outpatient cognitive behavioral therapy and six follow-up sessions over the year study period. The researchers suspect that changes in the brain's internal opioid system underlie the bulimic behavioral cycle of restricting, bingeing and purging.* Call Linda Ryan at 410-955-3863.
Depression
Working under the idea that depression in patients with transverse myelitis (TM) may be a response to immune upset-specifically to a rise in cytokines -- Adam Kaplin, M.D., Ph.D., Douglas Kerr, M.D., Ph.D., and Martin Pomper, M.D., Ph.D., are conducting a study that compares TM patients to those with multiple sclerosis (MS) or with non-autoimmune myelopathy. The researchers seek new-onset TM and MS patients ages 18 to 65. Participants will be tested twice in the six-month study to see if changes in cytokines and other substances parallel changes in mood, cognition and neurological signs.* Call Chitra Krishnan at 410-955-3129.
Down Syndrome
George Capone, M.D., and Kennedy Krieger colleagues are recruiting adults with Down syndrome age 50 or older, with or without a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), to investigate whether high-dose vitamin E (1000 international units twice daily) for three years will stop or slow changes associated with AD. Such a vitamin schedule delays changes in memory and other abilities in AD patients, but its usefulness in DS is unknown. Participants are evaluated eight times during the test period.
A second study seeks to understand neuropsychiatric disorders in children and young adults with Down syndrome, particularly autism spectrum, anxiety, depression and obsessive compulsive tendencies. The researchers welcome those with DS, ages 3 to 50. All will be given standardized memory tests and questionnaires to rate behavior. Permission is requested to obtain results of previous chromosome, medical and psychoeducational testing. For either study, call Heather Kammann at 443-923-9132.
Dystonia
Some forms of dystonia-the neurological disorder marked by involuntary twisting movements-may involve errors in cells' calcium uptake. Based on that idea, recent studies suggest medications that alter the body's use of calcium may offer a useful treatment. H.A. Jinnah, M.D., Ph.D., heads a study of the calcium channel blocker nifedipine to see if it's useful in controlling dystonia. Study participants have generalized dystonia that has not responded well to other treatments. Call Becky Dunlop at 410-955-8795.
Restless Legs Syndrome
Got restless legs? If you have been diagnosed with RLS and are over the age of 18, you may qualify for this study. We will be looking at different chemicals in the brain as well as the effects of two commonly used sleeping aids on RLS symptoms. Participation would include a seven-day stay at the Johns Hopkins Bayview campus, and you may continue to take your RLS medications during the study. You can earn up to $1,000 for your time.
Men and women with RLS may also participate in a research study to determine the effectiveness of an approved medication. If you are older than 45, not taking gabapentin (Neurontin), and have been diagnosed with RLS, you may be eligible. Study participants will receive medication at no cost. For either study, call Lori Williams at 410-550-2252.
Stroke or TIA
A good number of patients with stroke or TIA of unknown origin are found, after cardiac exam, to have a patent foramen ovale (PFO). Appropriate treatment isn't clear. Options include anti-thrombal medication (aspirin or warfarin) or surgical closure of the PFO-most recently with devices inserted via a transcatheter approach. The CLOSURE study compares best medical therapy with PFO closure using the Star-flex device. Patients ages 18 to 60 are eligible within 90 days of having a documented stroke or TIA if their PFO is confirmed by transesophageal echocardiogram. Neurologist Robert Wityk and cardiologist Richard Ringel are principal investigators for the multicenter trial. Call Tracey Hartmann at 410-502-5217.
* participants are paid or compensated in some way.