Zebrafish Help Canadian Researchers Provide Answers to Cause of ALS

MARKHAM, ONTARIO  June 4, 2013 — Canadian researcher Edor Kabashi of the Université de Montréal has developed the first animal model to study the function of a gene responsible for the highest percentage of ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Results to date shed light on the cause of the devastating disease.
“Our results indicate that [...]

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ALS Breakthrough Underscores Importance of Collaboration to Brain Research

As the result of a major breakthrough by researchers at Northwestern University’s School of Medicine, researchers studying amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, are now one step closer to unlocking the nature of ALS. The recent discovery, which for the first time identified a gene both in motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord affected by ALS, offers a glimpse of hope to those who currently suffer from the deadly disease which rapidly breaks down their bodies while leaving mental capacity intact.

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Melissa Marr Joins RASCALS Board of Directors

This spirit of volunteerism also extends to our leadership. We have been fortunate to have some very bright and energetic people step forward to help plan how we might best serve the ALS community. With that in mind, we proudly announce that Melissa Marr has accepted the position of Marketing Director on the RASCALS Foundation Board of Directors.

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Breaking News: ALS Awareness Month Has Changed — to ALS Action Month

We are a 100% all-volunteer 501(c)(3) non-profit charity. No one takes a paycheck here and there are no administrative costs. That means 100% of all funds raised by the R.A.S.C.A.L.S. Foundation go directly to fighting ALS.

The money goes to fund promising treatment research and development. It helps with ALS family assistance, such as our annual Higher Education Scholarship program.

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Pitt Findings on Lou Gehrig’s Disease May Hold Hope

By Kaitlynn Riely for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 26, 2013 •
A person diagnosed this year with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, will receive basically the same prognosis as the New York Yankee did — an average life expectancy of two to five years.
More than 70 years after Gehrig’s death, [...]

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Pitt Team Finds Melatonin Delays ALS Symptom Onset and Death in Mice

Hoping to stop neuron death in ALS just as they did in Huntington’s, the research team treated mice bred to have an ALS-like disease with injections of melatonin or with a placebo. Compared to untreated animals, the melatonin group developed symptoms later, survived longer, and had less degeneration of motor neurons in the spinal cord.

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Neuralstem ALS Trial Data Presented at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting

“That our cells and method of delivery are safe in ALS patients bodes very well for expanding to other indications. We expect to commence our FDA-approved Phase I trial in chronic spinal cord injury later this year using the same methodology. We want to thank the surgeons at Emory, who developed these techniques, as well as the patients and their families who have taken part in the trial.”

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110% Gratitude to All Our Volunteers

April marks National Volunteer Month. This observance holds very special meaning for all of us here at the Robert A. Stehlin Campaign for ALS (R.A.S.C.A.L.S.). That’s because we are a 100% all-volunteer 501(c)(3) non-profit charity. There are no administrative costs.
That means no salaries, payments, or perks for anyone. Out-of-pocket expenses truly means out of our [...]

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‘RNA Sponge’ Mechanism May Cause ALS/FTD Neurodegeneration

Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have demonstrated that this ALS/FTD mutation may be harmful because it creates an “RNA sponge,” soaking up an important regulatory protein that binds RNA.

Categories: ALS News, Research News  |  Tags: ALS, ALS community, ALS medical care, ALS research, ALS research funding, ALS treatments, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Atlanta Veterans Administration Medical Center, Bob Stehlin, C9ORF72 gene, C9orf72 mutations, Emory University School of Medicine, frontotemporal dementia FTD, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Lou Gehrig's disease, Mickael Poidevin, National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01 NS051630 and R21NS067461), PALS, Peng Jin, RASCALS Foundation, RNA ALS, Robert A. Stehlin Campaign for ALS, St.Louis RASCALS ALS Lou Gehrig's Disease amotrophic lateral sclerosis, Thomas Wingo, Zihui Xu  |  No comments

Johns Hopkins Researchers Discover New Clues About How ALS Develops

The researchers also found, to their surprise, that suppressing an ALS-causing gene in oligodendrocytes of mice bred with the disease—while still allowing the gene to remain in the motor neurons—profoundly delayed the onset of ALS. It also prolonged survival of these mice by more than three months, a long time in the life span of a mouse. These observations suggest that oligodendrocytes play a very significant role in the early stage of the disease.

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