By Dr. Liji Thomas, MD Cannabis has now been legalized in many parts of the US, despite a lack of medical understanding about dosage, toxicity and adverse reactions. ALS is characterized by multiple disorders that are caused by an underlying condition. While cannabis has been suggested as a therapy for ALS, the side effects and potential for adverse reactions...
Tag: <span>ALS</span>
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I have ALS. I wish a polygenic analysis had told me it was coming
By RAHUL DESIKAN If a fortune teller had “read” my future two years ago, I would have learned that I was at high risk of dying. Soon. A year ago I was diagnosed with the disease that killed baseball legend Lou Gehrig. It’s called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, and mine is moving swiftly. I’d have...
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Using graphene to detect ALS, other neurodegenerative diseases
The wonders of graphene are numerous — it can enable flexible electronic components, enhance solar cell capacity, filter the finest subatomic particles and revolutionize batteries. Now, the “supermaterial” may one day be used to test for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS — a progressive, neurodegenerative disease which is diagnosed mostly by ruling out other disorders,...
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Researchers identify promising proteins for diagnostic, prognostic use in ALS
Researchers from North Carolina State University have identified proteins that may be useful in both earlier diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and in more accurate disease prognosis. An MRI with increased signal in the posterior part of the internal capsule which can be tracked to the motor cortex consistent with the diagnosis of ALS....
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Immune cells hold promise in slowing down ALS
Recent research from Houston Methodist Hospital showed that a new immunotherapy was safe for patients with ALS and also revealed surprising results that could bring hope to patients who have this relentlessly progressive and fatal disease. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a nervous system disorder in which nerve cells that...
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Discovery may offer hope to Parkinson’s disease patients
Immunohistochemistry for alpha-synuclein showing positive staining (brown) of an intraneural Lewy-body in the Substantia nigra in Parkinson’s disease. The finding of a common protein abnormality in these degenerative diseases supports a hypothesis among experts that abnormal deposition of proteins in many neurodegenerative disorders reflects an early change in these proteins. “We have pinpointed a...
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Suppressing single protein greatly extends life span of mice with ALS-like disease
A set of experiments at Stanford reveals that suppressing a protein called ataxin 2 dramatically extends survival and improves motor function in a mouse model of ALS. Aaron Gitler and his colleagues found that suppressing a protein in mice genetically engineered to have an ALS-like disease allowed them to live longer and improved their motor...