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Query: UMLS:C0002736 (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)
 19,048 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A recent report of a six-fold increase in prevalence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurodegenerative disease, in soccer players prompted a similar investigation in National Football League players in the United States. Using the internet, a retrospective analysis indicated 8 of the 3,891 players who played or debuted after 1960 had ALS, a prevalence of 206 per 100,000, a 40-fold higher prevalence rate than the rate of 5 per 100,000 in the general U.S. population (p<.001, binomial theorem). While no etiology for ALS has been established, the very high rate associated with professional football warrants further examination.
Percept Mot Skills 2007 Jun
PMID:Football increases the risk for Lou Gehrig's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. 1787 57

Computerized treadmill gait analysis in models of toxicant exposure and neurodegenerative disorders holds much potential for detection and therapeutic intervention in these models, and researchers must validate the technology that assists in that data collection and analysis. The present authors used a commercially available computerized gait analysis system that used (a) a motorized treadmill on retired breeder male C57BL/6J mice, (b) the toxicant-induced (1-methyl-1-, 2-, 3-, 6-tetrahydropyridine) MPTP mouse model of Parkinson's disease (PD), and (c) the superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) G93A transgenic mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The authors compared the detection of deficits by computerized treadmill gait analysis in MPTP-treated mice with inked-paw stride length and correlated these measures to dopamine (DA) loss. The authors found that the computerized treadmill gait analysis system did not distinguish MPTP-treated mice from vehicle controls, despite a nearly 90% deficit of striatal DA. In contrast, decreases in inked-paw stride length correlated strongly with DA losses in these same animals. Computerized treadmill gait analysis could neither reliably distinguish SOD1 G93A mutant mice from controls from 6 to 12 weeks of age nor detect any consistent early motor deficits in these mice. On the basis of the authors' findings, they inferred that computerized gait analysis on a motorized treadmill is not suited to measuring motor deficits in either the MPTP mouse model of PD or the SOD1 G93A mouse model of ALS.
J Mot Behav 2008 Nov
PMID:Treadmill gait analysis does not detect motor deficits in animal models of Parkinson's disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. 1898 Sep 9

Guillot, Asress, Richardson, Glass, and Miller (2008) recently reported that treadmill gait analysis does not detect motor deficits in animal models of Parkinson's disease (PD) or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The authors studied aged C57BL/6J mice administered the neurotoxin 1-methyl 4-phenyl 1-, 2-, 3-, 6-tetrahydropyridine to model PD, and a small number of presymptomatic superoxide dismutase 1 G93A mice to study ALS. Several key issues merit discussion to put their observations in perspective. An increasing number of research groups are applying treadmill gait analysis to their rodent models of numerous movement disorders. The conclusions Guillot et al. drew undermine the potential importance of the paradigm of treadmill gait analysis for understanding and treating PD and ALS.
J Mot Behav
PMID:Treadmill gait analysis characterizes gait alterations in Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mouse models. 1990 38

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease. In some cases, patients with ALS retain a normal level of consciousness but disease progression eventually results in generalized paralysis, which first impedes and then prevents oral communication. This communication obstacle can generate a great deal of stress for the patient, family, and caregiver. Here the authors ask whether the use of an eye-tracking assistive device can improve quality of life for ALS patients and relieves burden of their primary caregivers. Subjects were divided into two groups depending on whether they used (n = 10) or did not use (n = 10) an eye-tracking assistive device. The authors assessed patients' quality of life and severity of depression using the ALS Specific Quality of Life Instrument-Revised and the Taiwanese Depression Questionnaire, respectively. The Caregiver Burden Scale was used to assess the burden on caregivers. Our study shows that the eye-tracking assistive device significantly improved patients' quality of life, as compared with patients in the nonuser group (p <.01). The assistive device also reduced the burden on caregivers (p <.05). This is likely a result of the improvement of patient's autonomy and more effective communication between patient and caregiver.
J Mot Behav 2014
PMID:An eye-tracking assistive device improves the quality of life for ALS patients and reduces the caregivers' burden. 2473 Nov 26

This study assessed a simple technology to enable two men affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in an advanced stage (i.e., with pervasive motor disabilities and lack of speech), to operate a computer-aided television system. The technology included microswitches, a portable computer, an interface connecting the microswitches to the computer, a commercial software package to allow the possibility of watching television via computer, and specific software to allow microswitch activations to be recorded as forward commands for channel change. The participants (a) gained control over the television programs to watch or not to watch (i.e., through channel changes) and (b) showed increased attention to the programs (i.e., an increase in their watching time). The practical relevance of the findings, the integration of the technology used in this study within the participants' wider recreation and communication program, and ways of extending the research were discussed.
Percept Mot Skills 2014 Jun
PMID:Two men with advanced amyotrophic lateral sclerosis operate a computer-aided television system through mouth or throat microswitches. 2506 51

Flail arm syndrome (FAS) is a rare degenerative disease of the nervous system and a variant of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In the current study, we sought to further delineate electromyographic changes in sensory and motor conduction of the median nerve in four FAS patients and also described one representative case of FAS in a 63-year old Chinese male patient who was admitted because of aggravating limb myasthenia for three months. Electromyography showed that FAS patients exhibited variable electromyographic changes in sensory conduction of the median nerve. Abnormal conduction velocity of the sensory nerve in bilateral median nerves was observed in one patient but normal in two other patients. Two patients had a marked reduction in median sensory nerve action potential amplitude. In addition, one patient showed significant reduction in the conduction velocity and motor nerve action potential amplitude. The latency of motor conduction of bilateral median nerves was markedly prolonged. Furthermore, the incidence rate of the F wave in the right median nerve ranged from 5% to 100%. Furthermore, all four patients exhibited abnormalities in needle electromyography in at least three regions of the four regions examined with massive denervations in large and widened motor units and diminished recruitment of motor units, indicating the simultaneous presence of both acute denervation and chronic nerve regeneration. In conclusion, this is the first detailed study of electromyographic changes in FAS and the findings help improve clinicians' understanding of this disease and differentiating the diagnoses of FAS from ALS.
Somatosens Mot Res 2019 12
PMID:Flail arm syndrome patients exhibit profound abnormalities in nerve conduction: an electromyography study. 3177 22