Reading Time: 3 minutes This blog is part of the ‘Highlights from Glasgow’ collection of articles, where you can read about the content of some of the talks and posters presented at the 29th International Symposium on ALS/MND. In the Epidemiology session (5C), several talks focused on the risk associated with various lifetime events, and the demographics of people…
Reading Time: 8 minutes Following on from our previous catch-up blog on clinical management talks presented at the Symposium, here is a continuation that looks at talks focusing on treatment therapies and causes of MND. RNA Binding & Transport RNA is the lesser-known ‘cousin’ of DNA – it contains copies of genetic instructions sent out from the nucleus –…
Reading Time: 3 minutes Mention the word Epidemiology and instantly my mind conjures up the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in America being swarmed by zombies or men in bright orange astronaut-type suits in The Crazies. While it’s true that it includes studying highly infectious diseases and how they spread (zombies and end of world scenarios aside!), it can…
Reading Time: 3 minutes The results from a study looking at the possible links between exposure to environmental toxins (found in pesticides) and motor neurone disease (MND) was published yesterday (9 May) in the journal JAMA Neurology. A group of researchers from the University of Michigan, led by Dr Feng-Chiao Su and Dr Eva Feldman, have found that exposure…
Reading Time: 3 minutes Adult onset condition, those with genetic mutations associated with the disease don’t get it until they’re adults, starts in one place and then it spreads, once it occurs the progression is usually relentless…. what condition am I describing? Professor Neil Pearce’s point in his talk at the opening session of the International Symposium on…
Reading Time: 4 minutes Head injury has been a hot topic in the media in relation to MND. I also receive a number of enquiries from people living with MND asking about the causes of MND, and whether past head injury may influence this? This very topic was discussed in the epidemiology session on the second day of the…
Reading Time: 4 minutes Published in Lancet Neurology on 7 October 2014, Association-funded researcher, Prof Ammar Al-Chalabi based at King’s College London, and an international team of researchers have used a new approach to study the causes of MND. Under the leadership of Prof Neil Pearce, based at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, researchers have used a mathematical…
Reading Time: 5 minutes The results of new research investigating a link between physical activity and MND was presented by the University of Sheffield research group in the late-breaking news session on the last day of the 24th International Symposium on ALS/MND. Under the leadership of Prof Pam Shaw, along with Dr Chris McDermott, MND Association-funded researcher Dr Ceryl Harwood presented…
Reading Time: 3 minutes When you hear the word ‘cluster’ the first thing that comes to mind is probably a group of stars – not MND. During a plenary talk by Dr Ettore Beghi on Saturday 7 December the question was: ‘Is there anything we can learn from clusters in MND?’ What do we mean by clusters? Dr Beghi…
Reading Time: 2 minutes People at increased risk of MND might be the human equivalent of high performance cars – built for speed and agility but becoming unreliable once they reach a high mileage. There is much anecdotal evidence amongst MND clinicians and those affected by the disease that people who develop MND tend to have been relatively physically…
