ALS+Medical+Advances



Medical advances have a great potential in the fight against ALS. The end stage problem faced by all patients is a decision whether or not to elect to undergo a long-tern tracheostomy to allow for ventilation. Due to the prospect of fighting years of immobility and family burden, few patients actually agree to such mechanical ventilation. The most prosperous and cutting edge advances rely in stem cell research. Specifically Umbilical cord blood that is cut from a baby’s umbilical cord soon after birth. The blood contained in this region is rich with many cell types that have been used as a therapeutic source to fight immune deficiencies, blood disorders and even cancer. Researchers at the University of South Florida have demonstrated that mononuclear cells from human umbilical cord have been shown to delay the onset of disease and therefore prolong the lifespan of SOD1 mutant mice. A treatment allowing the injecting of these stem cells directly into the spinal cord is the ultimate goal in the near future. Other more futuristic frontiers have thought to deploy genes directly into nerve cells. However the case may be, the research field of ALS is receiving substantial donations, and we can only hope for a breakthrough in such a stagnant disease. One approach deals with the delivery of the gene EAAT2 into the spinal cord in an attempt to lower glutamate levels.Many new treatments are being tested with the hope that one small change in therapeutic trials will give rise to a medical breakthrough in the fight against ALS.
 * Medical Advances:**

ALS SOD1 pathway