Current Trials

Asthma

Multiple trials for: Children & Adolescents / Adults & Seniors

What Is Asthma?

Asthma is a long-term (chronic) lung disease that causes episodes of coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath. Like all chronic illnesses, asthma cannot be cured, but it is very manageable.

Common Asthma Symptoms:

· Coughing: Coughing from asthma is often worse at night or early morning. Sometimes it’s your only symptom. It can be dry or mucus-filled.

· Wheezing: This is a whistling or squeaky sound especially when you breathe out. Sometimes wheezing can be heard easily; other times you need a stethoscope.

· Chest tightness: This can feel like something is squeezing or sitting on your chest.

· Shortness of breath: You may feel breathless, like you can’t catch your breath or breathe deeply enough. You may feel as though you are out of shape and constantly tired.

COPD

Multiple trials for: Adults & Seniors

What is COPD?

COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) makes it hard for you to breathe. The two main types are chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The main cause of COPD is long-term exposure to substances that irritate and damage the lungs. This is usually cigarette smoke. Air pollution, chemical fumes, or dust can also cause it. At first, COPD may cause no symptoms or only mild symptoms.

As the disease gets worse, symptoms usually become more severe. They include:

A cough that produces a lot of mucus
Shortness of breath, especially with physical activity
Wheezing
Chest tightness

Doctors use lung function tests, imaging tests, and blood tests to diagnose COPD. There is no cure. Treatments may relieve symptoms. They include medicines, oxygen therapy, surgery, or a lung transplant. Quitting smoking is the most important step you can take to treat COPD.

Migraine

What is a migraine headache?

Although many people use the term “migraine” to describe any severe headache, a migraine headache is the result of specific physiologic changes that occur within the brain and lead to the characteristic pain and associated symptoms of a migraine.

Migraine headaches usually are associated with sensitivity to sound, light, and smells. Some people have symptoms of nausea or vomiting. This type of headache often involves only one side of the head, but in some cases, patients may experience pain bilaterally or on both sides. The pain of a migraine is often described as throbbing or pounding and it may be made worse with physical exertion.

Not all headaches represent migraines, and migraine is not the only condition that can cause severe and debilitating headaches. For example, cluster headaches are very severe headaches that affect one side of the head in a recurrent manner (occurring in a “cluster” over time). The pain is sometimes described as “drilling,” and can be worse than migraine pain in some cases. Cluster headaches are less common than migraine.

Tension headaches are a more common cause of headache. These occur due to contraction of the muscles of the scalp, face, and neck.