Guest Voice: I have a new battle plan in my ALS food war

Guest Voice: I have a new battle plan in my ALS food war

I was never a foodie. Never one to order the lobster gnocchi, a bone marrow rice bowl, or smoked mackerel wrapped in bacon. My preferences were always more pedestrian. Chicken nuggets and tater tots. Fast food hamburgers with a pile of stringy fries. Giant mall cinnamon buns as thick as…

Scientists to study how abnormal protein drives ALS

The Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins and ALS United will fund a preclinical study investigating how TDP-43 abnormalities contribute to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The project, “Alternative Polyadenylation-Driven Subcellular RNA Mislocalization in TDP-43 Proteinopathies,” will explore the molecular mechanisms by which TDP-43 clumps,…

When ALS overshadows other parts of your identity

I’ve been helping my husband, Todd, ever since he was diagnosed with ALS more than 15 years ago. It started with me buttoning his dress shirts before he went to work, and then I helped him shave. Eventually, he needed my help with eating, toileting, showering, scratching itches, adjusting…

Trial testing cannabis-based medicine enrolls first participant

The first participant has been enrolled in a large Italian clinical trial that’s testing Avextra’s cannabis-based medicine for managing symptoms in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases. The NEUROBIS Phase 2 study was cleared to start about a year ago by both the Italian…

Blood test may track ALS progression, speed diagnosis

A new blood test that analyzes tiny fragments of DNA released by dying cells may help diagnose amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and predict how quickly the disease will progress, a study suggested. “Our model test could not only distinguish ALS patients from healthy individuals but also from those with other…

It’s true, great dads do get promoted to grandpa

Yesterday was my wedding anniversary, the fifth one I have spent without my late husband, Jeff, who died of ALS in 2020. Jeff Sarnacki’s daughter, Makelle, holds her daughter while enjoying a show at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in October 2025. (Photo by Juliet Taylor) In the…

New interactive tool provides free access to real-world ALS data

The ALS Association has launched the ALS Focus Data Dashboard, a free interactive tool that gives researchers, clinicians, and the public access to five years of self-reported clinical, demographic, and socioeconomic data from more than 4,000 people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and their caregivers across the U.S.