Mountain-Air breathing trick may boost MS muscle strength
NCT ID NCT06276634
First seen Jun 26, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tests whether breathing short bursts of low-oxygen air (like at high altitude) can improve ankle strength and brain activity in people with multiple sclerosis. Twenty-one adults with relapsing forms of MS will undergo 15 cycles of low oxygen followed by normal air in one session. Researchers will measure muscle strength and use brain scans to understand how the intervention works.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Acute Intermittent Hypoxia (AIH) - brief breathing of low oxygen air
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a new way to improve strength in people with MS without drugs.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very small early study (21 people) looking at brain changes, not a proven treatment. The low-oxygen breathing may not lead to lasting strength gains.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 21 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Apr 2024
- Expected to finish
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Jan 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 75 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Diagnoses of relapsing form of MS (including relapsing-remitting MS and secondary-progressive MS) * Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score of at least 3 and no more than 6.5 * Motor Functional System Scale (FSS) between 2-4 * Relapse free for at least 1 year * Age ≥ 18 years and ≤ 75 years * Safe to be scanned based on MRI questionnaire * Participants using dalfampridine will be eligible if taking the same daily dose for at least 2 months prior to screening Exclusion Criteria: * Active contrast-enhancing MS lesions, or diffusion positive lesions suggestive of acute cerebrovascular disease on baseline MRI scan * Uncontrolled hypertension (Systolic between 85 and 140, diastolic between 90 and 55) * History of epilepsy * Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease * Uncontrolled Sleep apnea * Pregnancy
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
RECRUITINGChicago, Illinois, 60611, United States
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