ALS [posted 8/13/98]
Question: Does anyone know what the cause is for ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease)?

Answer: Not to date.

ALS [posted 8/4/98]
Question: My mother died 22 years ago with ALS. Now my sister, who is 47 years old, has ALS. My mother only had two children. I'm 49 years old, and in excellent health. How can I find out if this bomb shell is going to hit me. Is there a blood test or something I can have done?

Answer: There currently is no known etiology of ALS, nor is there a genetic test. We do not currently think that it is genetic in nature. Keep posted.

ALS disease
Question: In the UK, my father had been diagnosed with ALS. At the first stage of his disease he got the respiratory failure, but according to the medical books this failure should be the last stages of the disease. He is still walking, eating, and talking. He is living now on a ventilator.

Answer: ALS (amotropic lateral sclerosis) is due to degeneration of both upper and lower motor neurons. It is a progressive disease without known cause. Other neurologic conditions which can mimic ALS(but are treatable) are lead toxicity, thyrotoxicosis, syphilis, spinal cord tumors, motor neuropathy with conduction block, and polio. When the disease does not follow usual parameters, these should be looked for.

Steroids and ALS
Question: I am a 59 year old male with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclarosis, I am currently taking the experimental drug BDNF, and doing physical therapy 3 times a week, my therapist asked if I would use steroids, if it would help...My question to you is there any known patient or whatever using steroids...Or is there any Doctor that knows if this would help...

Answer: Steroids are not currently used in the treatement of ALS. There are a number of promising new therapies such as the one you are using as well as Riulizole which is the only(so far) FDA approved drug for ALS. From a theoretical and practical standpoint you would want to avoid the usual medical type of steroids as they are catabolic(different from the anabolic steroids that athletes misuse)-the problem being that chronic use results in the loss of muscle mass which is already a problem for patients suffering from ALS.
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