Latest ALS Stories

TORONTO, May 2, 2013 /CNW/ - Years of steadfast Canadian commitment to advancing high-risk, high-potential research pays new dividends in the fight against ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Canadian scientists are major players on the international scene in terms of discoveries, productivity, collaborations in clinical trials and contributions to science. Based on peer-reviewed publications per capita, Canadian scientists are leaders in the G8. From May 4-6,...

Brain's elusive motor neurons are dressed in fluorescence so scientists can find them and study why they die A small group of elusive neurons in the brain's cortex play a big role in ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a swift and fatal neurodegenerative disease that paralyzes its victims. But the neurons have always been difficult to study because there are so few of them and they look so similar to other neurons in the cortex. In a new preclinical study, a Northwestern Medicine®...

A Retired NFL Player, a Marine and a Former MDA Researcher Talk About Life with ALS TUCSON, Ariz., May 1, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- National ALS Awareness Month begins today and the Muscular Dystrophy Association honors those living with the disease by featuring five unique online stories in MDA's "ALS: Anyone's Life Story®" series. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120424/DC93207LOGO ) Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease,...

Method of intraspinal cell delivery found to be safe, well-tolerated, and promising for other spinal cord conditions ROCKVILLE, Md., April 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Neuralstem, Inc. (NYSE MKT: CUR) announced that final data on the intraspinal delivery method employed in its NSI-566 Phase I trial to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) was presented today at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting. In a presentation called...

Melatonin injections delayed symptom onset and reduced mortality in a mouse model of the neurodegenerative condition amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. In a report published online ahead of print in the journal Neurobiology of Disease, the team revealed that receptors for melatonin are found in the nerve cells, a finding that could launch novel therapeutic approaches....

An investigational treatment for an inherited form of Lou Gehrig’s disease has passed an early phase clinical trial for safety, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Massachusetts General Hospital report. The researchers have shown that the therapy produced no serious side effects in patients with the disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The phase 1 trial’s results, available online in Lancet Neurology, also demonstrate that the...

LEXINGTON, Mass., April 24, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The ninth annual "The Cure is Coming!" 5k and awareness walk to end ALS will be held on Saturday, May 4, 2013 in Lexington, MA. The event will gather local area residents to run, walk, or roll to raise money and awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. All proceeds will benefit research efforts at the Cambridge, MA-based nonprofit biotech, the ALS Therapy Development Institute...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 23, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In recognition of people under 30 years old affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, the ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) announced today that it has appointed representatives to lead the Young Faces of ALS (YFALS) campaign this year. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110204/DC42625LOGO) The YFALS program is driven by several ALS patients diagnosed with the...

Promising drug target for ALS Using a new stem-cell based drug screening technology with the potential to reinvent and greatly reduce the cost of the way new pharmaceuticals are developed, Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers have found a compound more effective in protecting the neurons killed in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – Lou Gehrig's disease – than two drugs that failed in human clinical trials after hundreds of millions of dollars had been invested in them....

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig's disease, is a fatal disease that causes motor neurons, which are responsible for controlling muscles, to die. A study published by Cell Press on April 18th in Cell Stem Cell has revealed a novel stem-cell-based approach to screen for effective treatments, which are sorely lacking. Applying this method to motor neurons derived from stem cells taken from an ALS mouse model and human patients, the researchers discovered a promising...