Reading Time: 4 minutes I’m Hannah, a PhD student from the University of Nottingham, and a Communications Ambassador for the 34th International Symposium on ALS/MND that took place in December 2023. In this blog post I will be sharing the key messages of a talk at the symposium by Dr Sandra Banack. Dr Banack is a Senior Scientist at…
Reading Time: 5 minutes Every year, the team works hard to build on the previous year’s success. This year we are excited to include a series of three ALS-FTD joint sessions, in collaboration with the International Society for Frontotemporal Dementias, in the programme.
Some people with ALS, the most common form of MND, also develop a form of dementia known as frontotemporal dementia (FTD). FTD is a group of disorders where the nerve cells in two sets of lobes (frontal and temporal) in the brain are damaged. In a similar way to how motor neurones break down in MND and cause loss of function in muscles, the damage to the nerve cells in FTD causes the connections between parts of the brain to break down. As more cells become damaged and die this can lead to symptoms such as problems with memory, thinking or language, changes in mood, emotions and behaviour.
Reading Time: 5 minutes Hi everyone! My name’s Katie and I recently joined the Association as a Supporter Information Officer. My role offers me a unique perspective as I am in both the Research Team and the Development Team, which is part of Fundraising. Alongside our brilliant Research Team, I will be writing for the MND Research Blog on…
Reading Time: 4 minutes A recent paper published in Brain Communications has identified several lipid (fat-like) molecules that are elevated in MND, specifically amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) which is the most common form of MND. The study measured the levels of lipids in the blood of people living with ALS and how their lipid levels changed with time during…
Reading Time: 4 minutes Diagnosing disease faster, accurately predicting disease progression, assessing the ability of a new drug to reach its target – I think we’d all agree that these three things are essential requirements for treating all diseases. But how can we achieve this? The answer may lie in biomarkers. In his plenary talk at last year’s International…
Reading Time: 4 minutes This is blog number 15 in our ‘Symposium Blogathon’ – counting down to the 32nd International Symposium on ALS/MND. Numbers in bold green type correspond to the code in the abstract book. Click on the number to be redirected to the full abstract (the page may take a minute to load). There is currently no…
Reading Time: 7 minutes This is blog number 13 in our ‘Symposium Blogathon’ – counting down to the 32nd International Symposium on ALS/MND. Numbers in bold green type correspond to the code in the abstract book. Click on the number to be redirected to the full abstract (the page may take a minute to load). You can also find…
Reading Time: 9 minutes A paper arising from research carried out at the University of Sheffield as part of the AMBRoSIA biobank, and in collaboration with the international Project MinE gene-hunting consortium, was recently published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. Researchers propose that a test for the most common MND genes could be offered to all…
Reading Time: 4 minutes This blog is part of the ‘Virtual Highlights’ collection of articles, where you can read about the content of some of the talks and posters presented at the Virtual 31st International Symposium on ALS/MND. This presentation was part of Session 3: Clinical Trials Co-presented by Dr Merit Cudkowicz, from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General…
Reading Time: 4 minutes Recently published results from the open-label Lighthouse trial investigating safety of the drug Triumeq in people with MND revealed the treatment was safe and ready to progress to a larger Phase 3 clinical trial. The trial was held in Australia and recruited 40 people with MND who all received the active drug; this was because…
