Lou Gehrig's Disease or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurological disorder characterized by progressive degeneration of motor neuron cells in the spinal cord and brain, which ultimately results in paralysis and death. The disease takes its less-scientific name from Lou Gehrig, a baseball player with the New York Yankees in the late 1920s and 1930s, who was forced to retire in 1939 as a result of the loss of motor control caused by the disease.
In 1991, a team of researchers linked familial ALS to chromosome 21. Two years later, the SOD1 gene was identified as being associated with many cases of familial ALS. The enzyme coded for by SOD1 carries out a very important function in cells: it removes dangerous superoxide radicals by converting them into non-harmful substances. Defects in the action of this enzyme mean that the superoxide radicals attack cells from the inside, causing their death. Several different mutations in this enzyme all result in ALS, making the exact molecular cause of the disease difficult to ascertain.
Recent research has suggested that treatment with drugs called antioxidants may benefit ALS patients. However, since the molecular genetics of the disease are still unclear, a significant amount of research is still required to design other promising treatments for ALS.
Patients with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, live an average of only three years after symptoms begin, though some can survive closer to 10 years. What drives these differences in survival has remained a mystery.
A researcher at the University of Missouri has made a promising breakthrough in the quest to help people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the neurodegenerative disorder commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
On vacation in Mexico last year, Michael DiPlacido passed out twice while scuba diving and again in his hotel. Back in St. Louis, doctors diagnosed him with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, an incurable disease that often requires mechanical ventilation.
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is among the most challenging neurological disorders: relentlessly progressive, universally fatal, and without a cure even after more than a century and a half of research.
New research by UCLA Health has found a simple blood test could provide faster and more accurate diagnosis of ALS by measuring cell-free DNA.
A new study applying multi-omics techniques and machine learning identified 33 plasma proteins that differ significantly in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Globally recognized figures like Muhammad Ali and Michael J. Fox have long suffered from Parkinson's disease. The disease presents a complex set of motor symptoms, including tremors, rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural instability.
Today about 300,000 people nationally living with a spinal cord injury and with respiratory complications being the most common cause of illness and death, according to the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is an incurable neurological disorder affecting motor neurons-nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement and breathing.
Using stem cells from patients with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), Cedars-Sinai has created a lifelike model of the mysterious and fatal disease that could help identify a cause of the illness as well as effective treatments.
A new study reveals striking international differences in how doctors approach the sensitive issue of tracheostomy invasive ventilation (TIV) for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Potential treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases may already be out there in the form of drugs prescribed for other conditions.
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have developed a gene therapy for Alzheimer's disease that could help protect the brain from damage and preserve cognitive function.
A new way of thinking about Alzheimer's disease has yielded a discovery that could be the key to stopping the cognitive decline seen in Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.
The Access for All in ALS (ALL ALS) Consortium announced the launch of its official website, creating a central hub for information about its initiatives and clinical research studies. ALL-ALS.org is designed to inform and engage researchers, clinicians, and current and prospective study participants.
Just as cities must carefully manage the flow of cars in and out of downtown, cells regulate the movement of molecules into and out of the nucleus.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease that affects motor neurons.
In this interview conducted at Pittcon 2024, we spoke to Professor John Yates about capturing cardiomyocyte cell-to-cell heterogeneity via shotgun top-down proteomics.
In some severe cases of COVID-19, the lungs undergo extreme damage, resulting in a range of life-threatening conditions like pneumonia, inflammation, and acute respiratory distress syndrome.
In a groundbreaking Canadian discovery powered by philanthropy, a team of Western University researchers led by Dr. Michael Strong has uncovered a potential path toward a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
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