Yesterday and Today

"Researchers have pinpointed the cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis -- most commonly known as ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease -- a deadly, paralyzing neurodegenerative disease that has puzzled scientists since its discovery.

It all lies in the protein-recycling system of the neurons in the spinal cord and brain. In order for those neurons to function properly, the protein building blocks in cells must be efficiently recycled.

But in ALS, that protein-recycling system is broken -- and the cells are unable to repair themselves, thereby becoming damaged and leading to a breakdown in communication between the muscular system and the brain, according to the Nature study."

This news went under the radar of most people. But not people suffering from ALS. This is a huge, huge breakthrough for a disease that badly needs one. Perhaps one of the biggest discoveries in the history of neuroscience - the mechanism at work here links together all three types of ALS and very likely could also explain Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, and many other neurodegenerative diseases.

 

Determining the cause for a disease out of the mind-boggling number of possibilities is often the hard part. This discovery allows medical researchers to immediately begin testing for drugs that can regulate or optimize this specific protein pathway. When found, and they will find it, that drug will be the first effective therapy for this disease. Very possibly even a cure.

 

There was a time when ALS patients found themselves faced with the horrifying realization that they were going to get weaker and weaker until their muscles stopped functioning and then they would die a terrible death, gasping for air and begging for the end. A time when there was no hope of stopping the rapid and steady progression of this remorseless killer we call ALS.

 

That time was yesterday. Today there is hope.