Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually lead to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.

As motor neurons degenerate, they can no longer send impulses to the muscle fibers that normally result in muscle movement. Early symptoms of ALS often include increasing muscle weakness, especially involving the arms and legs, speech, swallowing or breathing. When muscles no longer receive the messages from the motor neurons that they require to function, the muscles begin to atrophy (become smaller). Limbs begin to look "thinner" as muscle tissue atrophies.

Diagnosing Lou Gehrig's Disease

The information regarding ALS is currently scarce and therefore it can often make diagnosing extremely difficult. In many situations, the symptoms will be mistaken for another neuromuscular disease; most of which are treatable. Treating the symptoms, however, is not enough. To fully diagnose Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, patients need to undergo a comprehensive neurological exam to find any signs of symptoms, such as atrophy or weakness and stiffness of the muscles.

The tests that are often performed during these examinations are considered EMG/NCV studies and work to find any nerve or muscles disorders that the patient is suffering from. These tests often work to test the reaction of the muscle to electrical stimulus as well as nerve impulses within the muscles. Additional tests, such as MRI scans, blood tests and laboratory tests can be performed as well to help rule out possible other neurological disorders that could be associated with the displayed symptoms.

Treatment for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

While there is no known cure for ALS, Riluzole, an anti-excitotoxic agent that inhibits the release of glutamate at pre-synaptic terminals, is the only FDA approved agent for treatment of ALS. However, several other drugs in current studies hold promise. We are conducting some interesting and important scientific studies in this important area of medicine and are looking for participants. Please consider signing up for a trial and contributing to the discovery of a treatment for this serious disease.

Interesting Links

At Coordinated Clinical Research, we are currently looking for participants throughout San Diego, California for our ALS clinical trials. We urge you to consider participating and helping to forward important medical research regarding the treatment of this serious condition.

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