Spring — the kickoff for a multitude of ALS awareness events — is just around the corner! Many are already gearing up, and this is my signal to dial up my mental resilience. It helps me support their messages while keeping a firm hold on my sense of me.

A machine learning algorithm has shown that depression and a perceived lower quality of life are significant predictors of high caregiver burden among those who care for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a study has found. The study, “Prediction of caregiver burden in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis:…

There are differences in the way the fluid around the brain and spinal cord moves in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and understanding these could have implications for the development of future therapies, a study suggests. The study, “Non-invasive MRI quantification of cerebrospinal fluid dynamics…

A gene editing technology based on CRISPR was able to slow the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in a mouse model, a new study showed, demonstrating the approach’s potential for gene therapy in people with ALS. The study, “Treatment of a Mouse Model of ALS by…

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) granted orphan drug status to Cytokinetics‘ reldesemtiv for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the company announced. The move follows fast track designation granted in December by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the same indication, and provides the…

A zebrafish model that reproduces key amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) symptoms and characteristics, including protein clumping, when exposed to blue light could aid in understanding disease mechanisms and in developing new treatments. The model was described in the study, “Optogenetic modulation of TDP-43 oligomerization accelerates ALS-related…

Oh, how I wish living with ALS weren’t so murky: We don’t know its cause, we don’t have a cure, and we measure symptom progression by way of 12 questions. I can’t do anything about the cause or cure, but I’m up on my soapbox (the one with the…

The Medidata Institute and Project ALS have announced a research partnership aimed at better understanding amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and developing new and personalized treatment approaches. With a focus on rare diseases, the institute works with scientists, regulatory agencies, patient advocates, life science companies, and research…

Factors like head trauma or fracture, electric shock, playing some competitive sports, drinking water from private wells, use of herbicides for gardening, and taking specific dietary supplements all may be associated with the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to a new study. However, larger studies are required…

I didn’t react when a spine care specialist mentioned ALS as a possible cause of my husband’s weak arm, because I didn’t know what ALS was. Todd and I talked about daily life during the drive home from the appointment, and it wasn’t until later that evening when the kids…