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Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) may be linked to genetic factors that promote cardiovascular fitness, according to a study indicating that ALS patients’ parents died of cardiovascular disease less often. But researchers underscored that it is not physical activity that increases the risk of ALS. The study, “Exploring…

A recent review highlights the importance of population-based registers of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in Europe, which for more than 20 years have helped scientists understand the disease’s incidence, prevalence, characterization and genetics, as well as the outcome assessment of clinical trials. The review, “The changing picture of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: lessons from…

Orangetheory Fitness and its franchises raised more than $2 million in two weeks for Augie’s Quest, a foundation dedicated to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research. Thanks to the support of its franchise owners, coaches, studio staff and more than 430,000 members across the U.S., Orangetheory Fitness was able to more…

Psychological factors and subjective experiences play a central role in the burdens felt by people who care for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a new study says. The study, titled “Caregivers of Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Investigating Quality of Life, Caregiver Burden, Service Engagement and Patient Survival,“ appeared in the…

Researchers have mapped the possible changes in shape of a key amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) protein that becomes mutated, a development that could lead to understanding how the mutations contribute to the disease’s progression. The knowledge could also lead to new therapeutic agents to target the mutations. The protein, angiogenin, is present…

A cardiovascular medication called Zontivity (vorapaxar) may be linked to a slight, but still increased, risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to a review of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) documents on data from the drug’s clinical studies. While researchers noted that the risk of developing ALS is very…

A pregnant woman with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) successfully delivered her baby by cesarean section after receiving total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) without muscle relaxant, in what Chinese researchers describe as a medical first. ALS pregnancies are exceedingly rare to begin with, because the disease itself only affects two out of…

Caffeine may keep cognitive decline and dementia at bay by boosting the levels of a protective protein called NMNAT2, a new study concludes. The study, “Screening with an NMNAT2-MSD platform identifies small molecules that modulate NMNAT2 levels in cortical neurons,” appeared in the journal Scientific Reports. NMNAT2 plays…

A signaling pathway involving a protein called sonic hedgehog (Shh) is compromised in amyloid lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, found a study published in PLOS One.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can detect changes occurring in the brain during the course of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in the short-term, according to a study published in the Neuroimage: Clinical.