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Interleukin 4 reduces the severity of clinical symptoms during the early phase of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), but has no effect in halting the death of motor neuron cells as ALS progresses, an Italian mouse study shows. The study, “Interleukin 4 modulates microglia homeostasis and attenuates the early slowly…

Orangetheory fitness members across the United States and Canada plan to raise $2 million for Augie’s Quest to cure ALS, an organization supporting research into a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Money raised this year will go to help advance a promising potential ALS treatment, AT-1501,…

The United States has enacted legislation to ensure permanent funding of speech-generating devices that allow people with degenerative diseases such as ALS to communicate. Both houses of Congress unanimously approved the original version of the Steve Gleason Act that was enacted in 2015 but set to expire this year. The…

The amount of RNA molecules present in the blood and central nervous system of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients seems to play a role in the onset and development of the disease, a study published in the journal Scientific Reports showed. A better understanding of the involvement of RNA molecules…

Increasing the levels of a neurotransmitter-generating brain enzyme that is in short supply in paralysis disorders restored movement in a fly model of ALS, an Italian study shows. Bolstering the Gad1 enzyme’s levels also led to the return of a pre-disease pattern of nerve cell organization, the researchers said. The…

University of North Carolina researchers have identified the DNA sequence in a virus that lets it deliver treatments for neurodegenerative diseases to the brain. The finding may pave the way for the development of improved and safer gene therapies for diseases like ALS, the team said. A number of gene therapies…

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…