The Effect of Intensive Controlled Exercise in the Early Stages of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

June 5, 2009 updated by: Radboud University Medical Center
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurological disorder characterized by amongst others asymmetric muscle weakness, respiratory insufficiency and spasticity. The disease is usually fatal within 2-3 years and until now there is no cure. ALS patients are usually supported by a multidisciplinary team. One of the members of this team is the physical therapist. The aim of physical therapy might be to enhance or to preserve cardiovascular fitness and muscle strength. Some authors suggest, however, that a moderate to high intensive exercise programme might lead to overuse weakness (an undesired fast progression of muscle weakness). The primary objective of this study is therefore to investigate whether regular moderate to high intensity exercise program in ALS can maintain or optimize cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength. A secondary objective is to investigate whether such a programme leads to overuse weakness and if there is a positive influence on patient's disability, fatigue and quality of life.

Study Overview

Status

Terminated

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

20

Phase

  • Phase 2
  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Gelderland
      • Nijmegen, Gelderland, Netherlands, 6500 HB
        • Department of Allied health Occupations, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Older dan 18 years Written Informed Consent Don't use walking adds such as a cane Patients must met El Escorial criteria for probable or definite ALS

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who are depending on intermittent or continuous mechanical ventilation Patients who are not able to understand and conform to the instructions Patients who already perform an exercise programme that can compare with our study Patients who have severe cardiopulmonary problems, DM or other problems concerning connective tissue.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Cardiorespiratory fitness measured with Astrand submaximal test

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Muscle Strength measured with MVIC (Maximum Voluntary Isometric Contraction)
Functional status measured with ALS-FRS-r Rating scale
Quality of life with ALS-AQ40 Questionnaire
Fatigue measured with CIS Questionnaire
Pulmonary function measured with FVC

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Marten Munneke, PhD, Institute of Neurology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, The Netherlands

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

March 1, 2006

Study Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 9, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 9, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

September 12, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

June 8, 2009

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 5, 2009

Last Verified

June 1, 2009

More Information

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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