Tiny Brain Blood Vessels Stimulate Movement Nerve Cell Growth, Study Reports

The brain’s smallest blood vessels stimulate the growth of spinal cord nerve cells at an early stage of their development, researchers at Southern California’s Cedars-Sinai group report. Their discovery, made with a tiny biological chip, could help shed light on the causes of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The article they wrote…

I don’t know about your email inbox, but mine often overflows with news alerts. I can usually buzz through them fairly quickly, but last week, three items caught my eye and had me clicking through to learn more. Exercise is safe for ALS patients Until my ALS diagnosis…

A novel mouse model and a new method of analyzing these mice led researchers to the discovery of key molecular changes in the early stages of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), opening up the possibility of new therapy targets. These new innovations could be valuable tools for researchers to continue to…

Newly identified mutations in the KIF5A gene were recently found to contribute to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the result of a large-scale collaborative study involving more than 250 researchers from several of the world’s renowned ALS research labs. John Landers, PhD, professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical…

The U.S. prevalence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 2014 was 5.0 per 100,000 people, which was unchanged from 2013, according to researchers. Men, whites, and people 60 and older continue to show the highest rates. The study, “Prevalence of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis — United States, 2014,” was published in…

Prothena and Celgene are teaming up to develop treatments for a range of neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The collaboration will focus on therapies that can target proteins such as tau and TDP-43 that scientists have linked to these disorders. “The programs we have chosen to collaborate…

Patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) show higher rates of sleep apnea that is often accompanied by nocturnal hypoventilation, according to a retrospective study. Researchers also found that a method called transcutaneous capnography is able to reliably detect nocturnal hypoventilation, or insufficient breathing, in ALS patients. The…

For a man whose passion involved solving the mysteries of the universe, Stephen Hawking remained a mystery to many. First and foremost he was a British physicist, earning accolades and respect for his many contributions to science. Secondly, as a person living with ALS, his fame came…

After eight years of research, scientists have finally discovered how TDP-43 and hnRNP A1 — two proteins that have been linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — work together to promote the disease. TDP-43 was found to bind to the hnRNP A1 RNA sequence and promote production of a…

Difficulty sharing vast amounts of information — the so-called big data — can slow the pace of scientific advancement, experts say. A University of Washington team has come up with a way to help neuroscience researchers share huge swaths of MRI information about ALS and similar disorders. The information deals…