Married just before the pandemic began and just weeks into lockdown in March 2020, Alexa Witte noticed that her husband Billy was having muscle spasms.
It wasn’t a total surprise because Billy, a personal trainer, started a new routine outside the gym — working out and working virtually at home with his clients.
Scientists report that they have uncovered a series of epigenetic modifications in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) that could have therapeutic implications. The massive research team involving 76 investigators from 16 countries published its study “Genome-wide study of DNA methylation shows alterations in metabolic, inflammatory, and cholesterol pathways in ALS” in Science Translational Medicine.
If you shrunk down for a “Magic School Bus”-style journey into an ALS patient’s neurons, you’d see the same thing nearly every time — a key protein knotted into clumps and missing from its usual post in the cell’s nucleus.
Carianne “Cari” Meystrik is a true hero to her family, friends and the entire staff at The ALS Association Tennessee Chapter. Cari and her husband Chris had only been married for 6 ½ years when she was diagnosed with ALS in 1998 while pregnant with her fourth child. The couple thought their dreams of growing old together and raising a family were over. Instead, despite the various obstacles brought on by ALS, the Meystrik family has had incredible adventures and made precious memories that carry them through the tough times.
There are a variety of adaptations, strategies and equipment options available to help you remain safe and mobile as you lose muscle strength and coordination in your arms and legs.
Home modifications can be permanent or temporary, low‐tech or extremely sophisticated. Some are easy and inexpensive to implement; others require major renovations and are costly. Many families rely on a range of solutions to meet their needs.
The ALS Association has formally objected to the use of controversial measures to evaluate ALS drugs that can make it harder to find effective new ALS treatments and get them to the ALS community as quickly as possible. These measures have been identified by the National Council on Disability as being inherently discriminatory against people with disabilities.
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Arkansas provides focused support for people living with ALS, allowing them to receive care from specialized medical professionals during a single visit.