Women's Health Clinical Research

This is a listing of Loyola University Health System Women's Health clinical research that is open and actively recruiting patients. Please click on the name of the research for a brief description, eligibility requirements and contact information. All research listed below have been approved by Loyola's Institutional Review Board chairman for promotion on our Web site.

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Physical Therapy for Painful Bladder Syndrome

Patients with Interstitial Cystitis/Painful Bladder Syndrome are invited to participate in a randomized trial using two forms of physical therapy to determine if symptoms of pain, urgency and frequency improve.

Adaptive Behaviors Among Women with Bowel Incontinence: The ABBI Trial

In this study, we want to collect information about the habits and behaviors that women with fecal incontinence use in their daily lives. We hope to provide information that can be used in the future to help women with fecal incontinence.

Nocturia Study

Females patients with and without nocturia (waking for nighttime urination) both with and without Type II Diabetes Mellitus, with and without chronic kidney disease, will participate by completing questionnaires, a two-day urine diary, one blood sample and collect urine for 24 hours to assess kidney function.

Minimizing Stress Urinary Incontinence After Vaginal Prolapse Repair (The OPUS Trial)

After vaginal prolapse repair, some women develop stress incontinence. This study is designed to find the best strategy to minimize these symptoms after surgery (if doing a preventative procedure (TVT) effectively prevents urinary incontinence at the time of the vaginal prolapse surgery).

The OPTIMAL Trial

The OPTIMAL study has two purposes: 1) compare two standard vaginal surgical techniques; and 2) see if patients do better when they receive pelvic muscle exercises and behavioral instructions around the time of surgery.

Continent urethra function

Function of the Urethra in Continent Women

Stress incontinence is a common subtype of urinary incontinence, which affects millions of American women. In fact, one out of nine American women will undergo surgical treatment for this condition with up to 30 percent of those women requiring a second surgery. Women develop stress incontinence because the nerves that control the muscle (urethral sphincter) that keeps urine in the bladder are injured. The muscle is no longer able to work, and the women lose control of their urine. Studies have shown that women with stress incontinence have poor nerve and muscle function in the urethral sphincter; however, we do not know how the nerve and muscle work in women who do not leak urine. In order to understand why some women leak we need a better understanding of what is ?normal?.

Menopause

Hot Flash Study

Estradiol is a combination drug approved for the treatment of hot flashes and vaginal symptoms in postmenopausal women. This study drug contains two kinds of hormones, estrogen and progestin.

In this study, two different dose combinations of estrogen and progestin will be compared to a low-dose estrogen-only supplement and a placebo. The purpose of this research study is to determine the lowest effective doses of the hormones that are in the drug to treat symptoms of hot flashes in menopausal women.