The cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — a disabling neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord and leads to weakened muscles and early death — is not fully understood, but accumulating evidence suggests that inflammatory processes may play a role in the initiation and progression of the condition.
The cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — a disabling neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord and leads to weakened muscles and early death — is not fully understood, but accumulating evidence suggests that inflammatory processes may play a role in the initiation and progression of the condition.
In research led by investigators at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and published in Scientific Reports, treatment with an anti-inflammatory drug delayed the onset of disease in a mouse model of ALS.
Only two treatments are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat ALS, and they are only modestly effective. Recent studies from MGH demonstrated that cromolyn sodium, an FDA-approved compound used to treat asthma and other conditions, exerts neuroprotective effects in cellular and animal models of Alzheimer’s disease.
Read more at: The Harvard Gazette
