Amantadine extended release for levodopa-induced dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease (EASED Study).

ADS-5102 is a long-acting, extended-release capsule formulation of amantadine HCl administered once daily at bedtime. This study investigated the safety, efficacy, and tolerability of ADS-5102 in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with levodopa-induced dyskinesia. This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study of 83 PD patients with troublesome dyskinesia assigned to placebo or one of three doses of ADS-5102 (260 mg, 340 mg, 420 mg) administered daily at bedtime for 8 weeks.

Serum EpCAM expression in pancreatic cancer.

Background: Aim of the study was to assess the diagnostic and prognostic impact of serum EpCAM levels in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

Materials And Methods: For quantitative measurement of preoperative serum EpCAM levels, a sandwich enzyme immunoassay kit was used (ELISA). Sixty-six patients with PDAC were included in the study and for comparison 43 patients with chronic pancreatitis and 104 healthy blood donors without any clinical evidence of cancer were analyzed as well.

Orally disintegrating selegiline in Parkinson patients with dopamine agonist-related adverse effects.

Objective: To determine whether adding orally disintegrating selegiline (ODS) while decreasing dopamine agonist (DA) dosages would reduce DA-related adverse effects (AEs) of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), pedal edema, hallucinations, and impulse control disorders (ICDs) without compromising efficacy in Parkinson disease (PD) patients.

Methods: This was a 12-week open-label study of 60 PD patients with motor fluctuations and DA-related AEs of EDS, pedal edema, hallucinations, and ICDs. Orally disintegrating selegiline was initiated at 1.

Predictors of weight loss in Parkinson's disease.

The objective of this study was to examine the change of body weight (BW) among Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and controls over years and determine the predictors of weight loss among PD patients. Studies on weight loss in PD studies are cross-sectional, have a short follow-up, or lack in clinical detail. We examined the percentage of BW change over years among 49 PD patients and 78 controls.

Empowerment for diabetes management: integrating true self-management into the medical treatment and management of diabetes mellitus.

Approximately 16 million people in the United States have diabetes mellitus, and the number of diagnoses is increasing at an alarming rate. A very costly disease in both human and economic terms, diabetes (currently the seventh leading cause of death) is common in both the old and young, crossing all racial, ethnic, and economic barriers. Diabetes significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and peripheral vascular disease, retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy.

Stroke and its modification in Parkinson's disease.

Previous studies have not agreed on the incidence of ischemic stroke in persons with Parkinson's disease. There are epidemiologic and neurochemical facets of Parkinson's disease that might confer some benefit or protection against ischemic stroke. We used a case-control method to determine the lifetime history of ischemic stroke in 200 patients with Parkinson's disease and 200 controls of a similar age range.

Comparison of two-dimensional echocardiography and ultrafast cardiac computed tomography for evaluating intracardiac thrombi in cerebral ischemia.

Two-dimensional echocardiography has a high specificity for the detection of intracardiac thrombi, but technically difficult studies are often encountered. Ultrafast cardiac computed tomography may be useful in such cases. Using transthoracic two-dimensional echocardiography and ultrafast cardiac computed tomography, we studied 36 patients with cerebral ischemia; one patient had the studies performed on two occasions, making a total of 37 sets of studies.

Circadian fluctuations of contrast sensitivity in Parkinson's disease.

Spontaneous circadian fluctuations of motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) often occur, with dysfunction typically less severe in the early morning than in the afternoon. In 23 PD patients with or without a history of circadian motor fluctuations, we studied contrast sensitivity (CS), a non-motor function, considered to be dependent on dopaminergic transmission to see if it exhibits similar circadian variability. We tested CS throughout the day at 2-hour intervals beginning at 8:30 AM.