Two people sat talking

Reading Time: 3 minutes When you think of scientific research most people will immediately imagine a laboratory with scientists in white lab coats, however MND research takes many forms. As well as research that looks for effective treatments, it is also important to investigate ways to improve the well-being of people living with MND and their carers/family members.

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Food, measuring tape and weights

Reading Time: 7 minutes Shyuan’s talk was titled ‘Investigating the role of hypermetabolism in ALS’ (C06 in the abstract book) and discussed the research being carried out by her team to try and understand the mechanisms driving hypermetabolism in ALS and what hypermetabolism means clinically for people living with the disease. This blog details Shyuan’s work and looks closely at her observations on hypermetabolism in relation to ALS.

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Doctor writing notes

Reading Time: 6 minutes It has been suggested that there might be a pre-symptomatic stage of MND, where the disease is active and occurring within a person but no symptoms are showing. There is currently little research in this area and a lack of evidence of a pre-symptomatic stage of the disease. However, if it can be shown that there is a pre-symptomatic stage which can be measured, this could be very useful in helping people with MND to get treatment as early as possible. Dr Michael Benatar, from the University of Miami, has been looking into this by studying the development of MND and how the disease presents in people who have a high risk of developing it.

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Keyboard, stethoscope and clipboard

Reading Time: 5 minutes What is a clinical endpoint?

A clinical endpoint is used to determine if the drug that is being tested in a clinical trial is beneficial to the people it is intended to treat – those effects that directly measure how a participant in the trial feels, functions or survives.

To determine a clinical endpoint, it is important to understand how a person with a disease feels and functions, and this is well understood in MND. So, a drug that improves any of these could be seen to be beneficial.

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An image of a Stethoscope, a pill bottle, some pills and a syringe

Reading Time: 6 minutes Over the last year ALS/MND clinical trials have taken centre stage, with more trials than ever opening for recruitment in the UK, the news of promising results from some trials and the approval of drugs by some regulatory authorities. With the year coming to an end, we thought we would roundup some recent clinical trial updates that were presented at the 33rd International Symposium on ALS/MND.

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