ANZCTR search results

Back pain is very common, and the leading cause of disability in Australia. The relationship between MRI findings and symptoms in people with LBP remains unclear. There are very few high quality research papers investigating the relationship between MRI findings and low back pain. Very few studies have performed repeated MRIs and in these studies scans have been separated by long periods of time. Almost nothing is known about the changes in MRI findings in the first 6 weeks after an episode of low back pain despite this being the critical time period when most changes in clinical symptoms occur. To investigate the potential importance of MRI findings as a source of low back pain, it is essential to track these findings closely during an episode of low back pain and investigate the relationship between changes in MRI and changes in patient’s symptoms.

This project builds on an earlier projects and seeks to examine the efficacy and acceptability of the Pain Course when provided in a tertiary pain service. We expect that participants will report improvements in symptoms of anxiety, depression and disability levels.

A prospective randomized clinical trial to compare the urinary sodium excretion in ICU patients with fluid overload treated with frusemide alone when compared with frusemide and Indapamide

Intravenous adenosine is used to minimize the coronary micro-resistance to achieve maximal hyperemia along with nitrates for optimal fractional flow reserve (FFR) measurements. We hypothesize that caffeine, being a competitive inhibitor of adenosine, would influence adenosine mediated FFR readings. Consecutive patients undergoing angiogram and FFR measurements were enrolled after abstaining from caffeine for 24 hours. Patients with any contraindications to intravenous adenosine or caffeine were excluded. FFR measurements were taken using nitrates and adenosine pre and post 4mg/kg intravenous caffeine administration and results were compared.

There is evidence that public health measures aimed at reducing the burden of obesity have not been effective. Whilst there are several possible reasons for this, including a multitude of competing messages, the overabundance of energy dense food and the near absence of obligatory physical activity, it is likely that the more important reason is the fact that weight appears to be physiologically regulated and defended. This means that using public health measures to combat obesity is not likely to work for obese subjects. What is not yet known is if subjects who are overweight (as opposed to obese), defend weight loss, nor is it known if modest (~5%) weight loss is defended. If overweight or modest weight losses are not defended, it would allow the targeting of public health messages towards the overweight and to focus on modest weight loss in the obese. This study aims to investigate if overweight people defend weight loss as vigorously as obese people, and to determine at what degree of weight loss these physiological changes begin. Overweight and obese people will be recruited and placed on a VLED (very low energy diet) for a period of 12 weeks, aiming to decrease body weight by 15%. Measurements in body weight and a number of biomarkers will be taken at proscribed intervals. All participants will be followed up for a period of two years, to observe weight regain (if any). Gut hormone and other biomarker changes over the trial will be compared between the overweight cohort and the obese cohort, to determine any differences. For both cohorts, changes in gut hormones and other biomarkers will be compared at 5%, 10% and 15% baseline body weight lost, to determine when physiological defences increase.

The aim of the study is to examine whether D-Cycloserine can augment graded exposure therapy for children and adolescents with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. D-Cycloserine is an antibiotic drug traditionally used to treat tuberculosis. D-Cycloserine is a glutamatergic partial N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) agonist, which has recently been shown to facilitate fear extinction in humans and animals and has also demonstrated to improve treatment outcome when combined with exposure therapy in social phobia, acrophobia, or fear of heights and OCD in adult samples. The drug has recently been used to augment exposure therapy for children and adolescents with OCD. A secondary aim of the study is to systematically examine the timing of D-Cycloserine augmentation in a pediatric sample by comparing D-Cycloserine given immediately before or immediately after exposure therapy.

Compare health outcomes of people with a severe mental illness and at least one co-morbid chronic physical health problem who attend the Physical Health Clinic at Fremantle Hospital with a similar group of people who are engaged with a general practitioner in the community.

Fatigue is common during exercise, with fatigue being described as sensations of tiredness with associated decrements in muscular performance and function. Exercise-induced fatigue is unique as it presents acutely and both the perception and duration of fatigue may be manipulated. Studies have shown that at the end of prolonged exercise, the concentration of serotonin was ultimately high compared to before exercising. Although we know the consumption of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA)are able to reduce the concentration of serotonin, there are still discrepancies to prove the effectiveness of BCAA in delaying fatigue and improve performance.

Stroke is common in Australia and the number of people experiencing stroke will increase with the ageing population. Currently, rehabilitation therapy after stroke focusses on restoring functions such as walking, swallowing and speech, with a primary goal of enabling people to return home. Improving physical fitness, particularly cardiorespiratory fitness, receives very little or no attention; however, improving fitness has the potential to enhance recovery of function, prevent future stroke or other cardiovascular events such as heart attacks, and improve the quality of life of stroke survivors. Low levels of fitness make everyday activities difficult and fatiguing to perform and may also put the person at greater risk of another stroke. Studies of stroke survivors suggest they are only about half as fit as non-stroke people of a similar age. Unlike heart attack survivors who commonly access cardiac rehabilitation, fitness-training programs are not routinely available for stroke survivors. There have only been a small number of fitness training trials in stroke and most required participants to undergo expensive testing in a large hospital or research centre. The majority used a "one-program-fits-all" training approach and required participants to train at a single centre. Therefore the purpose of this project is to trial a physical activity program that is individualised to the participants' interests, abilities and access to equipment in their home or local community, is low-cost, and could be implemented anywhere in Australia. Participants will be provided with encouragement and support by phone and email, not only for the 12 weeks of the program but for the 12 month study duration. This pilot is a small, controlled trial where 50% participants will commence the program immediately while the other 50% will undergo baseline testing then be retested 12 weeks later before they start the program. We will compare fitness levels between those undergoing immediate and delayed fitness training, and measure changes before and after training as well as at 6 and 12 months.

The aim of this study is to assess the safety and feasibility of adding simvastatin to standard first-line chemotherapy regimens in untreated, metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with elevated inflammatory biomarkers. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged 18 years or above and have been diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer with evidence of systemic inflammation. You must also be eligible for standard first-line chemotherapy regimens in accordance with local standards of care and pharmaceutical benefits scheme approvals. Study details All participants in this study will receive standard first line therapy, as chosen by their treating medical oncologist. In addition, participants will be asked to take a daily 40mg dose of simvastatin orally in the evening from the first day of chemotherapy until tumour progression or patient is withdrawn from treatment due to clinician or patient decision. Participants will be monitored for treatment toxicity and inflammation, and will also be asked to complete a questionnaire at 6 months to evaluate quality of life. The feasibility of the trial methods will also be evaluated in order to determine whether they could be used in a larger randomised clinical trial (RCT).