Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease) is a progressive and invariably fatal type of motor neurone disease. ALS, which affects around 90,000 people around the world, causes degeneration of the brain and spinal cord. It most commonly affects people aged between 40 and 70 and more people die from ALS each year than do of multiple sclerosis.

Although there is no cure for ALS, and only one treatment (which extends survival time by two to three months) that could change in the future. The French pharmaceutical company Trophos is researching and testing treatments for ALS. They also lead the MitoTarget Consortium, a European Union-funded initiative that brings together 17 organizations in France, Germany, Belgium and the UK – all of which are focused upon researching ALS or looking after patients with the disease.

The MitoTarget’s latest venture is the launch of MitoTarget Online (www.mitotarget.eu) which is to be the first point of call for those affected by ALS. Patients, doctors, nurses, carers, family and friends will find detailed information on ALS here and links to further information and support. MitoTarget Online will fill the information gap that exists for so many with rarer neurological diseases like ALS.

Professor Stephen Hawking, the renowned physicist, who has lived for many years with an unusual form of ALS says this of the latest development. ‘It is essential that as much support as possible is given to those who are diagnosed with ALS. Their needs are to live as long as possible in as fulfilling a way as possible. It is encouraging that the MitoTarget consortium is providing practical online support for all those affected, as well as developing treatments for ALS, with EU backing.

Source:

Trophos press release March 8 2010 www.mitotarget.eu