What a Month in the Hospital Taught Me About ALS Care

Analyses Support Design of COURAGE-ALS Trial of Reldesemtiv 

The COURAGE-ALS Phase 3 clinical trial, testing Cytokinetic’s experimental therapy reldesemtiv in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is expected to enroll patients who are most likely to benefit from the potential treatment. That’s according to a new analysis of data from an earlier Phase 2 study of reldesemtiv called…

Effector T-cell Levels May Predict Disease Progression, Survival

Higher levels of inflammatory immune cells called effector T-cells at the time of diagnosis are associated with faster disease progression and worse survival among people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a new study indicates. In turn, greater numbers of regulatory T-cells, which work to dampen excessive immune responses, were…

How a Robot on Mars Improved My Attitude

I’ll admit that because I live with ALS, some of my past “Human vs. Automation” experiences have been, um, less than perfect. Touchpads that open automated doors don’t always work for me, and voice activation software doesn’t recognize my commands. But now, I have a new sense of…

Tofersen to Treat SOD1 ALS Under Review for European Union

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has agreed to review an application seeking the approval of tofersen in treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) caused by mutations in the SOD1 gene, the therapy’s developer, Biogen, reported. “Today’s announcement is an important milestone for the ALS community in Europe where there is a tremendous need…

Brain Implant May Someday Help ALS Patients Communicate

Researchers have developed a brain-machine interface (BMI) that could someday facilitate communication for people who have lost their ability to speak, including those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). After being trained to recognize certain patterns of nerve cell activity, the BMI could accurately predict the words a person with…