A new patient-reported way of measuring shortness of breath in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), called the Dyspnea-ALS-Scale or DALS-15, can help doctors identify people who would benefit from noninvasive ventilation, even when their lung function and blood gas tests do not indicate it. DALS-15 also can be…
Scientist Jingsong Zhou, PhD, has received a $2.88-million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study how amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) affects multiple organs beyond the central nervous system (CNS). “We are ultimately working to find some potential therapeutic means to treat the disease with a…
Vitamin D supplementation can help overcome low levels of the vitamin often detected in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Still, such an alternative therapeutic approach has no meaningful clinical effect on progression of ALS-associated motor symptoms, a study suggests. The study, “…
Researchers doing early-stage investigation into potential new ways to halt neuron death seen in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have received a grant from the Alabama Power Foundation. Rita Cowell, PhD, a researcher at Southern Research’s Drug Discovery division, and her team have identified certain compounds that in lab…
AB Science has optimized the design of a Phase 3 confirmatory study for mastinib, its oral treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), to avoid any possibility of bias. The optimized protocol for the study (NCT03127267), not yet recruiting, was validated by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Although AB…
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurological disorder that is characterized by the progressive loss of motor neurons or nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movements. One prominent problem for ALS patients is muscle weakness. This affects their ability to perform everyday tasks, such as walking, speaking, and eating.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease, which leads to severe disability. Although there are treatments such as Rilutek and Radicava that are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, they can only slow the progression of symptoms. There is great scope to…
As part of a series of profiles of people doing great things for their communities, the Obama Foundation has released a video spotlighting the efforts of a patient and his wife who want to reimagine the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The Chicago couple, Brian Wallach…
Gleevec (imatinib mesylate), marketed by Novartis, is an oral medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating certain types of cancer, such as leukemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). Gleevec also is being investigated in preclinical studies as a potential treatment for…
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by the death of motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. ALS causes muscle stiffness, twitching, and weakness in its early stages. As the disease progresses, patients have difficulty speaking, swallowing, and breathing, in addition to body…
