Vestibular Research Studies
Below are clinical studies that are currently recruiting research study participants. You can find more studies recruiting patients at ClinicalTrials.gov.
*If you are a VeDA professional member and would like to recruit participants for your research study, click here to submit your request.
Clinical Trial Study: Developing Robust Treatment Options for Mal de Débarquement Syndrome
Human Balance Laboratory at the Neurology Department of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
The purpose of this research study is to develop better treatment options for Mal de Débarquement Syndrome (MdDS). MdDS is an under-recognized balance disorder, which in most cases follows a long ride on a ship or plane and is characterized by sensations of rocking/swaying or gravitational pull. Patients with MdDS typically experience additional symptoms such as increased sensitivity to visual motion (visually induced dizziness, VID), physical motion (motion sickness, MS), and other physical, or sensation problems. Treatment options for MdDS are limited, but it was recently shown that a therapy developed in our laboratory combining vision and head motion yielded significant long-term improvement of symptoms in about 50% of patients. This research will build on this success by:
- Testing the usefulness of virtual reality (VR) technology as a treatment;
- Supplementing the original treatments with an additional treatment that focuses on VID or MS symptoms; and
- Testing treatments that address gravitational pull sensation.
You may qualify to take part in this research study if:
- You are in age range 18-78.
- You are not blind and do not have severe vestibular (visual), cerebellar (brain) or locomotion disorders (movement).
- You report a sensation of non-spinning vertigo (rocking, swaying, bobbing, walking on a trampoline, gravitational pull) or pulling, which are present while lying down, sitting, or standing and temporarily stop during passive transportation such as a car ride.
- You can stay within 1 hour from our laboratory in New York City during the five-day period of experimental treatment.
- You do not take benzodiazepines on a daily basis. If you do, consult with your doctor whether the medication can be weaned off with supervision and/or have it replaced with an alternative medication.
Your participation in this research study is expected to last for 6 months after the treatment in the form of follow-up questionnaires. A total of 200 people are expected to take part in this research study.
If you are interested in participating in this study, please contact:
- Sergei Yakushin, PhD, (212) 241-9349, [email protected]
- Jun Maruta, PhD, (212) 241-7068, [email protected]
Funds for conducting this research are provided by the National Institute of Health/National Institute of Deaf and Other Communication Disorders (NIH/NIDCD).
For more information, please visit: https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05460520
