News

David Curtis Glebe, a retired 64-year-old public prosecutor now living in Millsboro, Delaware, knows he’s lucky to be alive. In mid-2013, while in Arizona, Glebe was diagnosed with pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer (PNET) — the same disease that killed Apple’s founder and CEO Steve Jobs. After three years of progress…

Researchers in Germany studying standards of care in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients found a high unmet need for assistive technology devices. The cohort study, “Provision of assistive technology devices among people with ALS in Germany: a platform-case management approach,” was published in the journal Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and…

Restoring a protein that’s missing in a type of ALS that affects 10 percent of patients stopped nerve cell deterioration, University of Southern California researchers report. The results also applied to a disease called frontotemporal dementia, or FTD, according to the team at USC Stem Cell. Their study, ”Haploinsufficiency leads…

Researchers at Sweden’s University of Gothenburg say low red blood cell count at a young age is a risk factor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Disease onset was also associated with low muscle strength and low body fat during the later teen years. ”One should never overstate conclusions from a…

UCLA researchers have identified the regulatory network that controls the transformation of neuronal progenitor cells into movement nerve cells in chicken and mouse embryos. The study adds insight into the development and functioning of spinal movement nerve cells. It also may contribute to the production of stem cell-derived movement nerve…

Neuraltus Pharmaceuticals signaled that it was moving toward the analysis stage of a Phase 2 clinical trial of its ALS therapy NP001. The signal was its announcement that it had completed the last patient visit in the study. Neuraltus conducted the trial (NCT02794857) to confirm the results of a…

Neurodegeneration in a subset of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients is a consequence of abnormal DNA damage responses, a finding that provides new possibilities for therapeutic interventions. About 5 percent of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (fALS), and up to 1 percent of sporadic ALS (sALS), have been linked to mutations in…

The higher the levels of uric acid in the blood of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, the lower the risk of death from all causes, a study found. The body produces uric acid when it breaks down purines, which are substances both normally produced and found in certain…

Biogen is acquiring Karyopharm Therapeutics’ KPT-350 and other potential treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS. “As a global innovative leader in neuroscience that brings world-class capabilities in developing and commercializing products targeting a broad range of neurological conditions, Biogen is well suited to further advance the development of KPT-350,” Michael…

This week marks the launch of the “7,000 Mile Rare Movement,” a nationwide effort to raise money for research into the 7,000 known rare diseases that afflict at least 30 million Americans. The campaign kicks off Feb. 1 and culminates with Rare Disease Day on Feb. 28. Organized by…