Eye Muscles Remain Unaffected by ALS Progression

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by Wendy Henderson |

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Research into patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has found that the eye muscles are not affected by the disease that attacks all the other muscles in the body.

Researchers focus on eye and limb muscles for clues about the disease. Read more here. 

The Swedish study found that even patients with very advanced ALS still had control over some of their eye muscles. Although they don’t currently know the reason, researchers believe the answer may help them to understand how muscles are affected and develop effective therapies to slow down the progression of muscle wastage or reverse it.

However, eye muscles work differently than other muscles in the body due to way the connections between the muscular cells and neurons are formed. Some ALS patients do experience damage to certain types of muscle fibers around the eye, while other muscle fiber types in this area are spared. Read more about this study here. 

Discover seven interesting facts about ALS.

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