ALS patients compensate for neuron loss in some brain regions by stepping up activity in other regions, according to a study. The finding suggests that analyzing patients’ brain networks could help doctors determine the state of their disease and monitor its progression. The study, “Functional reorganization during cognitive function…

People dying of terminal diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and inmates on death row have something in common: their outlooks are more positive than might be expected. A recent study examining attitudes on impending death, “Dying is Unexpectedly Positive,” appeared in the journal Psychological Science. Death is an important part…

Brad Gildenblatt was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2014. Three years later, his ALS had progressed to the point where he was unable to travel from Dallas to Oklahoma to see his only child, Caitlin, graduate from Oklahoma State University. However, when one of the deans of the university found out,…

Flex Pharma, which develops therapies to reduce the cramps and shaking that are hallmarks of ALS and other neurological diseases, has a new CEO. Dr. William McVicar, head of the company’s research and development arm, will assume the interim chief executive’s post on July 3. He replaces Dr. Christoph Westphal, who…

American Airlines has raised more than $800,000 at its second annual American Airlines Charity Golf Tournament to support the research initiative Answer ALS. The tournament and a fund-raising auction took place in American’s home base of Dallas, May 24 and 25. “We are proud to partner with Answer ALS…

Insilico Medicine has launched ALS.AI, a drug discovery platform for new amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) treatments. It uses a powerful new analytical approach involving “deep learning” to seek out new therapies for the disease — and to evaluate whether existing drugs used to treat other diseases can be repurposed for treating ALS.

ProMIS Neurosciences hopes to develop an ALS therapy around a component of a protein that is faulty in the disease. The TDP43 protein’s abnormality leads to it becoming misfolded — that is, it not having a normal structure — in both amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). ProMIS thinks it can eliminate…

Living with ALS means learning to live with a whole new normal. For example, before ALS, my old normal included diligently following recommended guidelines for annual health screening, such as monitoring bone density. This test (thanks to modern technology) is a simple x-ray of the lower spine and hips in…

Researchers have identified the sequence of molecular events leading to motor neuron death in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), an important step forward that may lead to new therapies to halt this process. They found that unlike healthy astrocytes, which are…

In this video from the ALS Association, discover some of the signs and symptoms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The film explains that the symptoms often appear very slowly at first and can vary greatly from person to person. MORE: Do firefighters have an increased risk…