Rising Healthcare Costs Strain EU Budgets Even as New Therapies Flourish

Cash-strapped governments across the 28-member European Union are struggling to control runaway healthcare expenditures — at exactly the same time as the promise of new but expensive therapies to treat rare diseases has never been greater. That’s the paradox faced by pharmaceutical companies as well as patient advocacy groups in…

Sativex, a mixture of two active compounds of cannabis, may help control symptoms of spasticity (stiff muscles) in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and primary lateral sclerosis, a Phase 2 trial shows. The study “Safety and efficacy of nabiximols on spasticity symptoms in patients with motor…

Exploratory analysis of data collected in the FORTITUDE-ALS and VITALITY-ALS trials sponsored by Cytokinetics provide new insights to enhance the design of future clinical trials in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). These findings were discussed at the 29th International Symposium on ALS/MND in Glasgow, Scotland, in several poster…

The majority of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) report wanting new treatments to stop their disease’s progression and so improve breathing function, muscle strength, and mobility, according to the results from a self-reported online survey of ALS patients and caregivers. These findings may help define future guidelines for the development…

Sexuality and intimacy are important aspects of one’s life that are also affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to a review study. It is important that clinicians and healthcare practitioners provide suitable support to ALS patients to cover these issues, as they can also affect patients’ overall well-being and…

Treatment with the anticonvulsant Potiga (ezogabine) lessened abnormal motor neuron excitability, or responsiveness, in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to top-line results of a Phase 2 clinical trial. Findings were presented at the recent 29th International Symposium on ALS/ Motor Neurone Disease in Glasgow, Scotland, by Brian…

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients with impaired swallowing show loss of taste perception, according to a new study. This problem is greater in patients requiring a feeding tube. The findings also suggested that using a device reproducing original food flavor may improve the patients’ quality of life. The study,…

I’ve always looked forward to December; it’s a month filled with decorations, holiday gifts, and happy social gatherings. But this month eight years ago, I was diagnosed with ALS, so December now marks a sad point in my life as well. Like so many who live with…

A new research project that will investigate the seemingly unrelated mechanisms between neurodegenerative diseases and infections has been awarded $2.5 million from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI). The funding was awarded to Ivan Marazzi, PhD, assistant professor of microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New…

Graphene, a material made up of a thin sheet of carbon, may be used in the future to detect and measure biomarkers able to identify patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to data from a recent study. The study, “Quantum Capacitance Based Amplified Graphene Phononics for Studying…