Articles related to AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS (ALS)

Scientists at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health are looking at the role of alpha-linolenic acid in ALS management, as their research links high blood levels of this omega-3 fatty acid to slower disease progression and longer survival in patients.

Unraveling the ALS Treatment Landscape: An Insightful Webinar Pharmacists, step into an enlightening discussion about the ALS treatment landscape on June 14th from 2:00 – 3:00 PM EST. Unearth key insights from AMCP’s Market Insights Roundtable and explore strategies to navigate patient access barriers, ultimately enriching ALS patients’ quality of life. Firstly, the webinar presents a golden opportunity for pharmacists to deepen their understanding of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a rapidly progressing neurodegenerative disease. Our distinguished speakers will guide you through the current and evolving ALS treatment landscape, emphasizing the differences between clinical trial environments and real-life experiences. Further along, you’ll gain invaluable insights into the patient journey and the burden associated with ALS. In highlighting the current access barriers that patients face, the webinar focuses on a health plan’s concerted effort to mitigate these hurdles, providing valuable lessons for all healthcare stakeholders. Lastly, the importance of collaboration in the decision-making process to minimize access to care barriers will be underscored. With panelists like Ryan Haumschild, Director of Pharmacy at Emory Healthcare and Winship Cancer Institute, and Ryan Bitton, Senior Director of Pharmacy Services at Health Plan of Nevada, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss. Join us […]

Researchers presented findings from the AB10015 Phase 2/3 clinical trial, demonstrating that masitinib, an oral add-on therapy to Rilutek, offers significant benefits for patients with mild to moderate amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Although the entire study population did not experience improved survival with masitinib, patients with moderate ALS who received masitinib in addition to Rilutek had significantly longer survival compared to those who received a placebo. The combined treatment also slowed disease progression, improved lung function, and enhanced quality of life in these patients. Masitinib works by blocking specific tyrosine kinase enzymes that regulate immune cell activity and inflammation, aiming to slow disease progression and alleviate symptoms. The analysis focused on normally progressing participants with moderate ALS at the study’s start, and in this subgroup, masitinib combined with Rilutek significantly slowed disease progression by 42% compared to Rilutek alone. Additionally, patients with moderate ALS experienced a median survival of 69 months with masitinib, representing a 44% reduction in mortality risk compared to placebo-treated patients. The combination therapy also showed positive effects on quality of life and lung function in patients progressing normally. These findings suggest that initiating masitinib at an earlier stage of the disease could lead to substantial reductions […]

The split-hand sign, one of the first physical symptoms of ALS, refers to a loss of the pincer grasp caused by weakening and wasting of two hand muscles placed on the side of the thumb: the abductor pollicis brevis (APB) and the first dorsal interosseous (FDI). Hand muscles on the side of the little finger, such as the abductor digiti minimi (ADM), are typically spared, hence the term “split.” Several studies have attempted to develop split-hand indexes (SIs) based on a measure of muscle conduction known as compound muscle action potentials (CMAP) of affected and unaffected hand muscles over the years. The CMAP and F-wave persistence (FP) of three important groups of hand muscles — APB, FDI, and ADM — were assessed in 83 ALS patients and 50 age- and height-matched healthy individuals (controls) in this study. The sensitivity and specificity of SIFP and SICMAP in identifying ALS patients from healthy participants were compared using statistical analysis. When compared to controls, both SIFP and SICMAP tended to have very low values in people with ALS.