Protocol Number: 06-N-0113
Males 18 years of age and older with SBMA who have neurological symptoms and can walk 100 feet (with or without assistive devices) may be eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with a blood test and a review of their medical records and genetic studies. Participants undergo the following procedures: -Blood and urine tests, history and physical examination, assessment of muscle strength -Quality-of-life questionnaire -Tests to assess functional abilities, such walking up steps, keeping the head up while lying down, and other measures -Nerve conduction study and motor unit number estimation to assess nerve damage. A probe placed on the skin delivers small electrical impulses and wires taped to the skin record the impulses. -Quantitative muscle testing to measure strength. The subject pushes and pulls levers attached to a gauge. Strength is recorded by a computer. -Medication. Participants are divided into two groups. One group is given the study drug, dutasteride; the other receives a placebo (sugar pill). All participants take their assigned medication once a day for 24 months. -Follow-up evaluations. Every 6 months for 2 years, participants return to NIH to repeat the tests described above to determine the effects of the dutasteride. Nerve and quantitative muscle testing is not done at the 6- and 18-month visits. -In addition to their follow-up appointments here at the NIH every 6 months, participants will also have blood tests and a physical examination performed after 3, 9, 15 and 21 months of treatment by the patient's local physician.
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