Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare, progressive, and fatal neuromuscular disease for which there is currently no known cure. It typically manifests in mid-to-late adulthood and progresses rapidly with a median survival time of two to five years, though it can sometimes progress faster.
Also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, ALS is currently diagnosed through a process involving clinical assessment by a neurologist to gauge whether a patient’s symptoms align with ALS, as well as a battery of tests to rule out other conditions that mimic ALS. This process continues over time to ensure no other possible diagnosis exists — and this can often take well over a year, or more.
A paper published in the journal Molecular Neurobiology in December titled “microRNA Biomarkers Diagnose Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in Circulating Blood” details a new technique that can test for — or rule out — ALS with a simple blood test with 97% accuracy. The research has been conducted at the nonprofit Brain Chemistry Labs in Jackson, Wyoming and we talk with two of the researchers behind the study to learn about the new technique and its implications in the world of neurology.
Guests:
Dr Sandra Banack, Senior Scientist in Ethnobotany at the Brain Chemistry Labs in Jackson, Wyoming and Principal Investigator
Dr Rachael Dunlop, Senior Researcher in Cellular & Molecular Biology at the Brain Chemistry Labs and co-author on this new study...welcome to the show Dr. Dunlop!
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