News

The second edition of ALS Nexus — a conference hosted earlier this month in Dallas by the ALS Association — brought together people from across the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) community to connect with each other, celebrate recent advances, and share hope for the future. “What really…

Due to a lack of resources and personnel, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has delayed its decision on whether or not to lift the clinical hold on NUZ-001, Neurizon Therapeutics’ investigational therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the developer announced. A decision from the regulatory agency…

An experimental oral therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) that’s being developed by Athira Pharma was shown to be safe and well tolerated in healthy volunteers who took part in a Phase 1 clinical trial, and the treatment entered the participants’ brain and spinal cords at dose-proportional levels.

Genetically reprogramming nerve cells to reverse aging may be a viable strategy for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a mouse study showed. Researchers found that a gene therapy made the mice’s nerve cells younger and more resilient, which delayed the onset of ALS symptoms. “Our hope is that this…

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine said they’ve solved a longstanding mystery of how mutations in the C9ORF72 gene, a common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), may lead to toxic proteins. The findings suggest a new approach that could lead to the development of targeted therapies, the researchers…

Long-term exposure to sulfur dioxide (SO2), a gaseous air pollutant generated by the burning of fossil fuels, significantly increases the risk of developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to a study in Canada. Exposure to other forms of air pollution, including nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ground-level ozone (O3), and PM2.5…

A wearable robot that detects small arm motions and helps support the shoulder can make it easier for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients to pick up and carry things, a study showed. ALS is a neurological disorder that causes progressive muscle weakness and eventual paralysis. Weak limbs make many…

Measuring the electrical activity of muscles in the neck can help clinicians to identify dysfunction in certain motor neurons — the nerve cells that control voluntary movement — in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a study from researchers in China demonstrates. Similar testing is now often done using…

Immune cells in the brain exhibit distinct profiles in the brain and spinal cord of people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a study finds. A better understanding of the cells, called microglia, which are long believed to contribute to inflammation and damage in ALS, could help scientists come up…

For a rare type of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), inhibiting a cellular stress response can normalize processes and function in specialized nerve cells called motor neurons, suggesting this response is a possible therapeutic target, a study reports. These results are specific to ALS related to the P56S  mutation in…