ALS Association Research Efforts Seek

The ALS Association is a national nonprofit organization established in 1985 to fight amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive neurodegenerative disease affecting the brain and spinal cord nerve cells. ALS causes motor neurons (which control muscles and allow voluntary movements) to degenerate and eventually die. When the motor neurons die, the brain can no longer begin and control muscle movement, which results in the loss of movement and the inability to eat, speak, and breathe. The causes of ALS are unknown. The disease usually develops in people between the ages of 40 and 70.

The ALS Association helps people with ALS and leads the way in global research, public education, care services, and public policy. The association maintains an international research program and has funded over $111 million to research collaborations around the globe. As the world’s largest private funder of ALS research, the association actively supports 100 research projects chosen through a peer-review process with leading ALS scientists. Because of the funding, the association has played a part in some of the most significant ALS research discoveries.

The research program searches for treatments and a cure for ALS. The program is unique because it operates globally and translates findings into meaningful, practical therapies. The ALS Association research program funds all phases of selected research and commits to forging partnerships with academia, government, industry, and nonprofit organizations. The entire scientific review process of the program is robust, with a distinguished panel of scientific advisors and specialists.

The association supports 13 scientific focus areas: disease mechanisms, genetics, drug development, nanotechnology, assistive technology, biomarkers, natural history studies, disease models, cognitive studies, precision medicine, stem cells, clinical studies, and environmental factors. For example, for environmental factors, researchers look for lifestyle aspects that may interact with genes to cause ALS or contribute to its development.

In this scope, the ALS Association supports investigations that aim to identify the environmental elements by collecting comprehensive data on environmental exposures. The association also supports the National ALS Registry to gather information directly from people with ALS.

Over the years, several clusters of ALS have been reported. However, scientists have not yet identified the factors that contributed to them, whether environmental or genetic. Researchers suspect that some environmental factors can contribute to ALS in conjunction with genetic susceptibility. One of the first clues indicating that ALS could involve environmental factors was obtained in Guam, where scientists could see an apparent cluster of ALS.

Although the causes of the increase in cases in Guam are still being investigated, and many theories have emerged throughout the years, one of the most accepted theories is elevated exposure to beta-Methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA). This neurotoxin can damage motor neurons. Studies are trying to determine its role in the process of ALS. Other environmental factors contributing to ALS include viruses, smoking, radiation, warfare, pesticides, and toxins in solvents.