Discovery of a promising medication for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS

Discovery of a promising medication for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week -- Montreal, Researchers from the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM) and the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) at the University of Calgary have discovered a medication that could make it possible to treat individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

An article published in JCI Insight concludes that pimozide was found to be safe and over the short term, preliminary data shows that it could stabilize the progression of ALS. This neurodegenerative disease normally leads to a progressive paralysis of the skeletal muscles and, on average, three years after the onset of symptoms, to death.

“This medication alleviates the symptoms of ALS in animal models,” said Alex Parker, a CRCHUM researcher and professor at Universite de Montreal. “Riluzole and edaravone, the drugs currently used, have modest effects. Other studies must be conducted to confirm our results, but we believe that we’ve found a medication that may prove to be more effective in improving patients’ quality of life.”

From worm to man

The story behind the discovery began six years ago with a little millimeter-long …

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(2017-12-02), Discovery of a promising medication for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS, Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week, 598, ISSN: 1532-4664, BUTTER® ID: 014744299