Histamine-related genes are promising disease biomarkers and therapeutic targets to slow amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) progression, a mouse study suggests. The study, “Histaminergic transmission slows progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,” was published in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder…
Histamine-Related Genes May Become Biomarkers and Therapeutic Targets for ALS, Mouse Study Suggests
The sun is setting on another ALS Awareness Month. If we’ve been successful at drawing attention to the disease, we’ve reminded those who are untouched by its tortuous path that ALS is an indiscriminate, relentless, amoral, sadistic, Machiavellian monster. But to what end? Pity is superfluous and attention-fleeting; empathy…
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Certain Cholesterol-Lowering Statins May Decrease Risk of ALS, Large Medicare-based Study Suggests
Use of statins, the blood cholesterol-lowering medications, for more than a year was linked to a lower risk of developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) among older adults, a large Medicare beneficiaries-based study suggests. The study “Relationship of statins and other cholesterol- lowering medications and risk of amyotrophic lateral…
Although each patient faces a different journey with ALS, we all share the memory of the moment when we received our diagnosis. When I was told I had ALS, I expected to be assured not to worry and that I’d be back to normal life in no time. Rather…
More than 800 community members recently turned out for the inaugural Arrest and Extinguish ALS event in Lenox, Massachusetts, raising $50,000 for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research. Twenty-two first-responder teams from the state’s Berkshires region gathered at the music venue Tanglewood to participate in a fun tug-of-war event…
RaDaR, the catchy new name for the U.S. government-run Rare Diseases Registry Program, aims to help patient advocacy groups with limited resources build their own disease registries. The site was developed by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), a division of the National Institutes of…
Injection of human neural stem cells into the spinal cord of people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was found safe and did not cause adverse effects even two years after the transplant, results from a Phase 1 clinical trial show. Trial findings were published in the study, “Results…
“What one man can do, another can do.” So said actor Anthony Hopkins, playing the role of Charles Morse in the movie “The Edge.” He used that mantra as inspiration to fell a rogue, predatory grizzly bear. It may be hyperbolic to equate the difficulties of securing one’s…
Although people who develop amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have altered levels of several blood metabolites — products of our cells’ metabolism — before disease onset, these changes do not enable reliable identification of who is at risk of having ALS, according to a large study. The research, “…
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Working Around My Workarounds
Living with ALS certainly has its challenges, which lead many of us to rely on workarounds. These are creative, temporary solutions that solve an everyday problem; I first wrote about mine in “The ALS Workaround Dilemma.” But the key word here is “temporary,” because workarounds run the risk…
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