News

The presence of diabetes is associated with a 70 percent reduction in the risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), new study shows. The study, titled “The role of pre-morbid diabetes on developing Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis,” was published in the European Journal of Neurology. ALS patients tend…

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics announced that the first patients have been enrolled in the Phase 3 clinical trial of NurOwn for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). NurOwn is a mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) platform created for the treatment of ALS. Because it is made from MSCs,…

Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals, an affiliate of Ipsen, announced that five abstracts discussing Dysport (abobotulinumtoxinA) were presented at the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R) Annual Assembly, held Oct. 12-15 in Denver, Colorado. Dysport, a botulinum toxin product, is approved for treatment of spasticity, or shaking, in adult patients, which…

Changes in the numbers of immune cells in the blood are associated with the progression of ALS, a study reports. Keeping tabs on the numbers could help doctors track the disease and researchers identify targets to develop treatments around, it said. The study, “Correlation of Peripheral Immunity…

Participating in the 2017 Annual Northeast ALS Consortium (NEALS) meeting in Florida recently, biotech company Oxford BioDynamics presented two different epigenetic signatures for the diagnosis and prognosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The presentation was a result of a prospective study to determine the sensitivity and specificity of two…

Although there’s no cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, managing it wisely can increase survival and improve patients’ and their families’ quality of life. One tool for managing it is a feeding tube. An article in the journal Neurology covered the pluses and minuses of using the tubes in ALS. It…

A new genome wide association study (GWAS) conducted in multi-ethnic patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has demonstrated that the GPX3-TNIP1 gene locus is significantly associated with ALS. The study, “Cross-ethnic meta-analysis identifies association of the GPX3-TNIP1 locus with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,” was published in…

Research indicates that an injury pathway in fruit fly neurons might be responsible for the loss of synapses in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Findings from the University of Michigan study were published in the open-access journal eLife, titled “Restraint…

While a link between neurodegenerative diseases and cancer seems unlikely, a recent study suggests that such connections might exist. Genetic analysis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, conducted by Japanese and Taiwanese researchers, revealed that many genes linked to ALS are also related to certain cancers. The research suggests that…

Long-term exposure to air pollution increases the risk of a person developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a Dutch study shows. The study, “Long-Term Air Pollution Exposure and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in Netherlands: A Population-based Case–control Study,” appeared in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Scientists say…