Reading Time: 4 minutes The exact course, duration and rate of progression of MND often varies greatly from person to person; even when there is a known family history of the disease caused by a specific MND-causing gene (eg SOD1). This same variability also occurs in mice. Researchers, funded by the MND Association, took two mice with the same SOD1…
Reading Time: 3 minutes Our bodies need to be able to make new proteins, to maintain long term memory. So if the ability to make new proteins is switched off, does this cause Alzheimer’s Disease? New research findings published yesterday by scientists based in Leicester take us closer to answering this question. Journalist are describing this as a step…
Reading Time: 4 minutes Omega-3 fatty acids have been in the media a great deal over recent years. They can lower our risk of heart disease and they may even have neuroprotective properties (for example limit damage to the brain and spinal cord after acute injuries). But, what about in MND? Could this dietary supplement have an effect? MND…
Reading Time: 3 minutes Results from a phase I clinical trial of a drug known as ISIS 333611 have been published open-access online in the scientific journal Lancet Neurology on 29 March 2013. This is the first time researchers have tested the effects of delivering an antisense oligonucleotide directly into the human cerebral spinal fluid (the fluid between the spinal…
Reading Time: 5 minutes From Sunday morning to Tuesday evening last week, there was a lot of talk of MND research going on in Liverpool. The reason for this ‘hotspot’ of discussions was due to the annual meeting of an international consortium of MND researchers taking place at the University of Liverpool. The 10th International Consortium on SOD1 and…
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Opening Session theme on how the disease progresses within the Central Nervous System (CNS) continued with the presentation by Prof Stan Appel from Baylor College of Medicine, Huston on neuroinflammation. Examination of post-mortem brain and spinal cords from people with MND shows clear evidence of inflammation (although Prof Appel was quick to point out…
Reading Time: 2 minutes Our recent blog articles describe lots of fascinating science and the progress in the care and treatment of MND/ALS that was presented at the symposium. Personally, another really positive aspect was the opportunity to meet some of the researchers face-to-face. This included several senior scientists and clinicians whose work we support, some of whom gave lectures…
