Magdalena Kegel,  —

Patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in advanced stages who suddenly experience worsening shortness of breath and chest discomfort are likely to have Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, a condition also known as broken heart syndrome. Based on their findings, South Korean researchers studying the hearts of ALS patients  urge physicians to consider Takotsubo…

Researchers have developed a method to measure the effectiveness of a process of RNA destruction that clears abnormal molecules from cells. Since abnormally high production of junk RNA has been thought to contribute to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the method can be used to screen for drugs that may boost…

If parents pass on mutations in the C9orf72 gene, their children not only develop amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or frontotemporal dementia but do so at an earlier age due to an expansion of the mutation. This finding makes it easier for physicians to determine when to start monitoring an individual carrying a C9orf72…

A Phase 2 clinical trial, exploring ozanezumab as a treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, failed to show any benefits. The data at hand means the search for treatments that may outperform the only approved ALS medication, riluzole, continues. The study, “Safety and efficacy of ozanezumab in patients with…

Feeding mouse models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) the bacterial product butyrate improved their gut health, delayed the onset of movement symptoms, and increased the animals’ life span, according to a study. The study reporting the findings, “Target Intestinal Microbiota to Alleviate Disease Progression in Amyotrophic Lateral…

The amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) drug Rilutek (riluzole) prevents neuronal cell death in part by acting on mitochondria, suggesting that treatment approaches that target the way mitochondria signal within cells may be a viable approach to treating ALS. The study, “Riluzole But Not Melatonin Ameliorates Acute Motor…

Preventing the TDP-43 protein from entering mitochondria may be a treatment option for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to a new report. But while blocking the abnormal process is possible in mice, the compound used is not suitable for humans. To overcome this, researchers are using multiple approaches in their…

Surgery to insert a feeding tube directly into the stomach of late-stage amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients can be made safer by adapting procedures now in place for high-risk patients, identified with the help of a tool for stratifying patients according to risk. The study, ”A risk stratifying tool to…

Cognitively healthy amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients have brain damage that mirrors their subtype of the disease, researchers have learned, and patients with bulbar-onset ALS have more widespread brain tissue loss — a finding that could explain why the patients fare worse than others. In their study, “Relationship between…

Low levels of vitamin D, found in the majority of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), are linked to more extensive loss of movement, but do not predict the course of disease over a year. Instead, researchers found that taking vitamin D supplements was associated with a faster decline. The study’s…