ANZCTR search results

Liquid fish oil is increasingly used in the treatment of a range of inflammatory conditions, however there has not been any work conducted which investigates the acceptability of fish oil to older adults. Considering the evidence that there are numerous factors which affect taste sensitivity in the older population, it may be that fish oil acceptability differs in this group. The aim of the study is to determine the level of acceptability of fish oil to older adults and identify any differences in acceptability between patient groups.

This project will investigate whether the ABCD Parenting Young Adolescents Program assists parents to promote a range of factors known to protect adolescents from experiencing poor health outcomes and that delay or reduce their involvement in dangerous risk taking activities such as alcohol and other drugs. Specifically, the project will investigate whether participation in ABCD results in: improvements in parent-adolescent relationships; reductions in parent-adolescent conflicts; improvements in adolescent behaviour and improvements in parental confidence and wellbeing.

We are investigating a new educational strategy to support GPs in clinical decision making about dyspnoea (breathlessness) management in terminal cancer patients. Dyspnoea plagues patients with cancer at the end of life and management of breathlessness is a central challenge in the care of cancer patients. Effective strategies to translate known evidence into practice are needed. Most comprehensive educational programs are not useful in the real world because they are too complicated, time consuming or expensive. This educational program (academic detailing) is brief, easy to understand, based on the best evidence available and is acceptable to GPs. Academic detailing has a proven track record for improving patient-based outcomes by improving physician practice and patient personal care. This study aims to further our understanding of how academic detailing will work for cancer patients with breathlessness at the end of life. Findings from this study may provide us with information needed to undertake a larger definitive study that will include cancer patients at all stages of their illnesses. The ultimate goal of this pilot study is to improve the cancer patient’s breathlessness through the development of a comprehensive Randomised Clinical Trial (RCT) to determine the best method of initiating change in the primary care setting. Based on our findings, an implementation and training program could be developed which could be implemented nationally. Better management of dyspnoea has the potential to improve quality of life, reduce hospital admissions and reduce total cost.

The aim of this pilot study is to examine the efficacy of transplanting encapsulated human islets into individuals with type 1 diabetes in the absence of anti-rejection drugs.

The primary purpose of this study is to compare the safety and improvement in lung function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) following administration of inhaled PT005 to inhaled placebo. The safety and improvement in lung function will also be compared to a known and approved inhaled bronchodilator (Foradil Aerolizer) for the treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The primary hypothesis is that inhaled PT005 will be safe, well tolerated and will demonstrate greater improvement in lung function compared to placebo, and these improvements will be comparable to Foradil Aerolizer.

Sports anti-doping study. The aim of this study is to see what effects on testosterone an injection of a synthetic hormone called GnRH analog has. GnRH analogs are banned in elite sports as they are considered to enhance an athletes performance by increasing the bodies production of testosterone. In this study blood and urine specimens will be collected from healthy male volunteers who have been given several injections a GnRH analog. Some of the volunteers will also be given an injection of testosterone or a drug called nandrolone. These three drugs are all banned in elite athletes, but it is thought that they may be being used in combination illicitly. Some of the volunteers will recieve injections of saline only given as a placebo, this allows us to compare the results with those of the volunteers receiving the drugs. The blood and urine samples taken from the volunteers (before and after the injections) will be analysed to see what effects they have on hormone levels, and will be used to help develop a test to detect the use of GnRH anaolgs by elite athletes.

Thromboelastography (TEG) is an in vitro method of measuring whole blood coagulation. It is, however, unknown whether the use of a venous tourniquet during blood sampling effects the results, making interpretation of a patients coagulation unreliable. This trial aims to answer this question.

One quarter of labours are induced due to either maternal or fetal reasons in the Western World. Unfortunately, not all of these inductions are successful, and a failed induction of labour usually results in a caesarean section. The most useful predictor of success for an induction of labour is the assessment of the cervix (neck of womb) prior to the induction of labour. A firm, closed cervix (unfavourable cervix) increases the likelihood of a failed induction of labour and a caesarean section. A number of different techniques have been utilised to improve the success rates of induction of labour when the cervix is unfavourable. These include hormone infusions (oxytocin), intravaginal gels and tablets (prostaglandin E2, misoprostol) and mechanical techniques for ripening cervixes. With an unfavourable cervix, the caesarean section rate with hormone infusions is 50%. The use of intravaginal prostaglandin E2 reduces the caesarean section rate to 30%, and this is currently the routine technique for induction of labour when the cervix is unfavourable. Mechanical ripening of the cervix with balloon catheters has been investigated over the last 10 years using both single and double balloon catheters. The single balloon catheter has been found to be at least as effective as prostaglandin E2 vaginal gel. Several small clinical trials have suggested that a double balloon catheter may be more effective at cervical ripening and induction of labour, lowering the caesarean section rate for failed induction of labour. The specific aim of this project is to compare the standard induction of labour technique utilised for women with an unfavourable (closed, tight) cervix, which is intravaginal prostaglandin E2, with induction of labour with the single balloon Foley catheter and with a double balloon catheter. It is hypothesised that the double balloon catheter will be more effective at cervical ripening than prostaglandin E2 or the Foley single balloon catheter, reducing the number of caesarean sections for failed induction of labour without increasing the number of caesarean sections for non-reassuring fetal heart rate patterns. In this trial, we plan to recruit 330 women who deliver at King Edward Memorial Hospital, and to randomise them to one of three groups Group 1: Standard induction of labour with vaginal prostaglandin E2 Group 2: Induction of labour with the single balloon Foley catheter Group 3: Induction of labour with the ARD double balloon catheter The potential significance of this trial is that we hope to prove that the new double balloon catheter technique will reduce the caesarean section rate in women who are having an induction of labour from 30% with the standard induction of labour technique, to 15% with the new technique. Reducing the caesarean rate has short, intermediate, and long-term benefits. The short-term benefits include reduced operative morbidity and shorter hospital stay. The intermediate benefits include improved maternal wellbeing during the first month post delivery by avoiding a major abdominal operation. The long term benefits include easier options with subsequent pregnancy as labour is less complicated if the mother has not had a previous caesarean section. Avoiding caesarean sections also reduces the incidence of low-lying placentas and placentas which grow into previous uterine scars which increases the risk of hysterectomy with subsequent pregnancies.

The study will find the right amount of dose of a new oral drug called LBH589 in combination with radiation or chemoradiation for locally advanced lung cancer.

‘Glycine’ is an amino acid that can be purchased at health food shops in Australia. Some studies have suggested that glycine, when administered in conjunction with typical medications, improve schizophrenia symptoms. However, glycine doesn’t work in all patients. Much more research is needed to determine how and whether glycine affects brain activity, cognitive processes and other schizophrenia symptoms. The purpose of this project is to investigate the use of glycine as an adjunct treatment for improving cognition in schizophrenia. We will investigate whether glycine treatment, in combination with standard antipsychotic medication, is more effective at improving cognitive and clinical symptoms of schizophrenia than antipsychotic medication alone. We will measure schizophrenia patient's baseline level of glycine and we will examine whether glycine treatment affects brain activity, cognition and clinical symptoms differently, depending on the patient's baseline level of glycine.