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The inhabitants of Montchavin in the French Alps knew something was killing them. They just didn't know what. Some wondered whether lead from a disused mine in the village had leaked into the water supply. Others thought mobile phone masts were to blame. One woman believed the area was cursed. Between 1991 and 2019, 16 people – almost a tenth of the area's 200-strong population – were diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fatal condition more commonly known as motor neurone disease (MND). In other words, if you lived in Montchavin, you were 20 times more likely to contract MND...

The news came four years ago, at the end of a casual phone call. Bill’s family had always thought it was a freak coincidence that his father and grandfather both had ALS. But at the end of a catch-up, Bill’s brother revealed that he had a diagnosis too. The familial trend, it turned out, was linked to a genetic mutation. That meant Bill might also be at risk for the disease. An ALS specialist ordered Bill a DNA test. While he waited for results, he applied for long-term-care insurance. If he ever developed ALS, Bill told me, he wanted to...

Philip O'Keefe, a 62-year-old amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patient in Australia recently became the first person to post a message on social media using only his thoughts. On December 23, he posted an initial brief message, "Hello World," on Twitter. The technology that allowed O'Keefe to send his message was developed by brain computer interface company, Synchron—the device is called the Stentrode Brain Computer Interface (SBCI); a type of endovascular brain implant. It was implanted into O'Keefe's brain without opening his skull—instead, it was inserted through his jugular vein. The tiny (8 mm) brain implant was designed to allow people...

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often known as motor neurone disease, slowly kills off nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis and eventually death. Right now, there's no known cure – but we might have just gotten closer to finding one. In a new study, scientists were able to reverse one of the biological abnormalities that ALS introduces in cells. It's important to note this has only been achieved for one form of the disease so far, and only in lab samples, rather than in actual human beings. Even with those caveats, though, it's a significant step forward...

Golden Earring, the Dutch rock band known for such hits as “Radar Love,” “Twilight Zone” and “When the Lady Smiles,” has officially called it quits. The decision comes after George Kooymans, the band’s guitarist and co-founder, was diagnosed with ALS. “This is a death blow,” Barry Hay, the singer and multi-instrumentalist who has been a member of the group for over 50 years, declared to Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad. “We always said we would keep going until one of us fell over." Primis Player Placeholder “I didn't expect George to be the first," Hay continued. "Kooymans was always the toughest...

Cool it! While Hollywood has accepted the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge in droves, uploading often-creative, LOL videos and nominating each other, Pamela Anderson and Carey Hart took to their social media pages to criticize the viral campaign, meant to raise funds for Lou Gehrig's disease research. On Wednesday Aug. 20, Anderson, a longtime supporter of animal rights, posted a Facebook message criticizing ALS researchers for their research practices... The next morning, on Thursday, Aug. 21, Hart similarly railed against those who have hopped on the ice bucket bandwagon...

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating motor neuron disease that rapidly atrophies the muscles, leading to complete paralysis. Despite its high profile—established when it afflicted the New York Yankees' Lou Gehrig—ALS remains a disease that scientists are unable to predict, prevent, or cure. Although several genetic ALS mutations have been identified, they only apply to a small number of cases. The ongoing challenge is to identify the mechanisms behind the non-genetic form of the disease and draw useful comparisons with the genetic forms.Now, using samples of stem cells derived from the bone marrow of non-genetic ALS patients, Prof. Miguel...

A nationally acclaimed guitar great and cherished member of the Sarasota-Bradenton music scene has passed. "Dangerous" Dan Toler – former guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band, Gregg Allman Band and Dickey Betts’ Great Southern group – died today at age 65, according to Gregg Allman Band mate and close friend Chaz Trippy. Toler was battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and living in the Whitfield area of Manatee County.

(HealthDay News) -- The apparent discovery of a common cause of all forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) could give a boost to efforts to find a treatment for the fatal neurodegenerative disease, a new study contends. Scientists have long struggled to identify the underlying disease process of ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) and weren't even sure that a common disease process was associated with all forms of ALS. In this new study, Northwestern University researchers said they found that the basis of ALS is a malfunctioning protein recycling system in the neurons of the brain and spinal...

Former world heavyweight boxing contender and Minnesota Duluth football lineman Scott LeDoux died this afternoon at his home in Coon Rapids, Minn., at age 62 after a long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Paul Cellucci, the former Massachusetts governor and U.S. ambassador to Canada, announced today he has a relatively slowly progressing case of Lou Gehrig’s disease. "I’ve had symptoms for four years," the 62-year-old Cellucci said in a statement to The Associated Press. Despite some weakness, he said, "I am feeling quite well." Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, attacks the brain and spine and usually is detected after muscle weakness. It progresses to complete paralysis, is incurable and is always fatal. Each year the disease, nicknamed for the New York Yankees player who died of it, kills about 5,000 Americans.

Ancient food source may offer neuroprotectionNutritional supplementation with Spirulina, a nutrient-rich, blue-green algae, appeared to provide neuroprotective support for dying motor neurons in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, University of South Florida neuroscientists have found. Although more research is needed, they suggest that a spirulina-supplemented diet may provide clinical benefits for ALS patients. A spirulina dietary supplement was shown to delay the onset of motor symptoms and disease progression, reducing inflammatory markers and motor neuron death in a G93A mouse model of ALS. Spirulina, an ancient food source used by the...

Boston, MA (LifeNews.com) -- Researchers at Harvard and Columbia have made advances dealing with ALS and stem cells without having to destroy human life. The scientists were able to use a new technique to transform the skin cells of patients with Lou Gehrig's disease into motor neurons. The process may one day be able to create tailor-made cells to replace the damaged ones and either reverse or slow down the deadly disease. An article on the research is scheduled for the July 31 edition of the medical journal Science describes the direct reprogramming process used to make the stem cells...

Adult Stem Cells to treat ALS: UBC Study Vancouver researchers pioneer safe pathway to slow ALS using stem cells A unique pilot study has established a safe pathway for using bone-marrow stem cells to slow down and potentially treat Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurodegenerative disease without cure. The study, published in the journal, Muscle & Nerve and led by Dr. Neil Cashman, professor of neurology at The University of British Columbia and director of the ALS program at Vancouver Coastal Health and VCH Research Institute, tested the use of a growth factor stimulant in ALS patients and found...

Neurologists at Jerusalem's Hadassah-University Hospital, Ein Kerem, are the first in the world to help multiple sclerosis (MS) and amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients by injecting their spinal columns with large numbers of adult stem cells taken from their bone marrow and multiplied in culture. The clinical trial, while "encouraging" and "promising," remains highly experimental, as all the patients have undergone a single injection with no untreated control group for comparison. With the first patients having received it two years ago, it is too early to know how successful it will be in the long term. Prof. Dimitrios Karousis, a...

From the living room of Dr. Richard Olney's Corte Madera home, sliding glass doors offer a wide-open view of the tidal marsh in front of his house, of passing clouds and of the shorebirds that fly in and fly out. Inside, the man who once rode mountain bikes and ran triathlons sits nearly motionless in his wheelchair. He watches the world with the same intense intellectual curiosity that made him one of the nation's leading experts in ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - popularly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Since 2004, ALS has been slowly killing him. Of unknown origin,...

MIAMI - Bobby Dykes, a boxer in the 1940s and 1950s who fought Kid Gavilan and Sugar Ray Robinson, died at 77. He died Wednesday in his Coral Gables home, son-in-law Harry Roberts said. Dykes had Lou Gehrig's disease for about eight years, longtime companion Carolyn Carter said. Dykes was born in San Antonio and moved to Miami in the late 1940s. He became the area's most popular fighter at a time when boxing was king in Miami. "He remains the biggest drawing card in Miami boxing history," boxing historian Hank Kaplan said. Dykes, a lanky white left-hander, earned a...

Emmy-winning producer-director Scott Brazil, whose television shows included "The Shield" and "Hill Street Blues," has died. He was 50. Brazil died Monday at Sherman Oaks Hospital of respiratory failure due to Lou Gehrig's disease and lyme disease complications, FX Networks spokesman John Solberg said Wednesday. Brazil was executive producer of "The Shield," the first original drama series on FX Networks, and he directed 11 episodes. Brazil and "Shield" creator and executive producer Shawn Ryan won the 2002 Golden Globe for drama series. Although his condition had worsened, Brazil used a motorized wheelchair to go about his duties as "The Shield"...

How does a hairdresser meeting a comedian equal a Freeper working to assist in the battle against Lou Gehrig's Disease? Oprah made me do it.Not really, but she is part of this story. Confused? I am too, at least at the way that seemingly small events in one persons life can add up with events in anothers to become something very important. Its a strange and winding path to where I am today, let me show you the way thus far, I think you might wish to continue this journey with me... Tim Pfaffendorf was the owner of a hair...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher said he would ask federal regulators Friday to approve the first clinical trial injecting special stem cells into the spinal cords of people with the degenerative nerve ailment called Lou Gehrig's disease. The trial would test whether a technique anatomy professor Clive Svendsen has pioneered on rats afflicted with the disease is safe to use on people. If successful, Svendsen said a much larger clinical trial aimed at treating the disease could be under way in two or three years.About 30,000 Americans currently have the disease, which gradually kills brain cells...