Current Research on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, which is associated with National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA, provides plenty of support to biomedical research on ALS.
The main goals of the research on ALS are to:
- Identify the cause (s) of ALS
- Understand the mechanisms involved in disease progression
- Develop treatment for ALS
The parameters involved in the study include the following:
- Understanding how select motor neurons degenerate in ALS and finding ways to halt motor neuron damage
- Study the role of SOD1 mutations in neuron damage in animal models
- Study the role of free radicals accumulation in neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS
- Understand the involvement of the loss of neurotrophic factors in ALS
- Find out the role of apoptosis in ALS
- Identifying a reliable and common biological marker for ALS that will allow early detection
- Identify the involvement of other genes, besides SOD1 genes
- Develop potential therapies for ALS through animal model studies
