Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis News and Research

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Embryonic stem cell strategy advanced with UCSF finding

UCSF scientists are reporting what they say is a significant improvement in the technique for genetically reprogramming mouse cells to their embryonic state, a process that transforms the cells, in essence, into embryonic stem cells.

12 Sep 2007

Nanotechnology helps identify molecular signature common to Lou Gehrig's disease

A nanotechnology developed by a University at Buffalo professor has enabled researchers to identify a molecular signature common to both familial and sporadic cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease.

5 Sep 2007

Stem cell therapy rescues motor neurons in ALS model

In a study that demonstrates the promise of cell-based therapies for diseases that have proved intractable to modern medicine, a team of scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has shown it is possible to rescue the dying neurons characteristic of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neuromuscular disorder also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

3 Aug 2007

Zebrafish provide clues to cure for Lou Gehrig's disease

A small tropical fish, the curiosity of a Geisinger research scientist and some college students have created the perfect storm of sorts in an attempt to find a cure for one of the world's most devastating neurological diseases.

1 Aug 2007

Stem cell therapy rescues motor neurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis model

31 Jul 2007

Key finding on ALS related protein

Chemists from UCLA and the University of Florence in Italy may have solved an important mystery about a protein that plays a key role in a particular form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disorder that strikes without warning.

28 Jun 2007

Focus on motor neurone disease

Motor neurone disease (MND), also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a degenerative disease of unknown cause which causes patients to lose basic motor functions and has a devastating effect on them and their families.

17 Jun 2007

Discovery of new cellular mechanism behind Lou Gehrig's disease

University of Kentucky researchers have discovered a new cellular mechanism that may better explain what causes amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

1 Jun 2007

Possible neuroprotective effect of testosterone treatment in men

A small pilot study suggests that testosterone treatment is safe, well tolerated and may reduce symptoms, slow brain degeneration and increase muscle mass in men with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, the most common form of the disease, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

17 May 2007

Researchers develop first antibody that detects gene mutations that cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Researchers at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Medicine have developed the first antibody that detects the only known cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig's disease.

9 May 2007

Report on effects of extremely low frequency electric and magnetic fields on human health

A response to the Stakeholder Advisory Group's report on the effects of extremely low frequency electric and magnetic fields, by a member of SAGE.

30 Apr 2007

New direction for therapies to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Researchers from The Ludwig Institute and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have discovered that when motor neurons damaged by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig?s disease, inappropriately send the wrong signal, immune cells react by killing the messenger.

24 Apr 2007

Avicena files composition of matter patent application for treatment of Lou Gehrig's disease

Avicena Group has announced that it has filed a composition of matter patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease), a severe neurodegenerative disease.

24 Apr 2007

Intrathecal Baclofen for spasticity-related pain in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

An estimated 5,600 people in the United States are diagnosed every year with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, and as many as 30,000 Americans have the disease at any given time.

17 Apr 2007

Astrocytes may contribute to Lou Gehrig's disease

Two papers by Columbia and Harvard researchers report for the first time that astrocytes (the most abundant non-neuronal cells in the central nervous system), which carry a mutated gene known to cause some cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS/Lou Gehrig's disease), induce motor neuron death.

16 Apr 2007

Stem cells delay neurodegeneration in the brain

Sufferers from devastating neurodegenerative diseases have been given some hope by the results of recent research.

12 Mar 2007

Scientists find new genes linked to Lou Gehrig's disease

In the first genome-wide search for the genetic roots of the most common form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Johns Hopkins scientists have newly identified 34 unique variations in the human genetic code among 276 unrelated subjects with ALS.

21 Feb 2007

Effective test for screening Huntington's disease drugs

A test using cultured cells provides an effective way to screen drugs against Huntington's disease and shows that two compounds - memantine and riluzole - are most effective at keeping cells alive under conditions that mimic the disorder, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report.

30 Oct 2006

Promising therapy for Lou Gehrig's disease delivers antisense drug directly to nervous system

Researchers have designed and tested a molecular therapy in animals that they hope will be a major development in the fight to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease.

27 Jul 2006

Search for gene search for sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Though it's the more common form of the disease, sporadic Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which affects roughly 90 percent of those living with the fatal neurodegenerative illness, has been the one less studied, simply because, unlike familial ALS, no genes have turned up.

17 May 2006