FW: ALS update

[Guest guest]

Great info Jack ...... and last week, during a literature search of Vitamin C, new research showed that 'strong levels of vitamin C (they were talking in the 3 - 8K range) displaced Alzheimer's plaquing. Sorry, I didn't save the listing .... I'll go back and see if I can find it to post to the listserve. To me, it was another affirmation of how poorly nourished the average American is. If the average vitamin levels are deficient enough - and deficient long enough - for disease to develop, and vitamins require minerals to function .... then the average American is even MORE deficient in minerals than vitamins ...... NOT pharmaceuticals! my 3 cents this am. Have a GREAT Tuesday everyone! SunnySunny Kierstyn, RN DC Fibromyalgia Care Center of Oregon 2677 Willakenzie Road, 7CEugene, Oregon, 97401541- 654-0850; Fx; 541- 654-0834www.drsunnykierstyn.com Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 08:08:30 -0700From: chirodoc1@...To: Subject: ALS update

http://healthland.time.com/201...s-disease/?hpt=he_c2

Researchers Discover Underlying Cause of Lou Gehrig's Disease

Researchers report they've discovered a common cause of all forms of

the fatal neurological disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS),

or Lou Gehrig's disease. The findings, published in Nature, point to

a possible new avenue for treatment.

The study identifies the malfunctioning of protein recycling systems

in the neurons of the brain and spinal cord as the underlying cause

of all types of ALS, whether it's hereditary, sporadic or the type

that targets the brain.

When this system fails, neurons are unable to recycle the protein

building blocks that are critical to their functioning. Eventually,

brain and spinal cord neurons become damaged and lose their ability

to carry nerve signals to the body's muscles. That results in

paralysis, leaving patients unable to move, speak, swallow or

breathe.

A team of 23 researchers, including senior author Dr. Teepu Siddique

of the Davee Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurosciences at

Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine, discovered that the

protein ubiquilin 2 plays a key role in this recycling system.

Ubiquilin 2 is responsible for repairing or clearing other proteins

as they become damaged in spinal cord and brain cells; when it

malfunctions, as it does in ALS patients, the damaged proteins start

to clutter cells, causing them to degenerate.

"This is the first time we could connect [ALS] to a clear-cut

biomedical mechanism," Siddique said in a statement. "It has really

made the direction we have to take very clear and sharp. We can now

test for drugs that would regulate this protein pathway or optimize

it, so it functions as it should in a normal state."

About 30,000 Americans currently have ALS, and 50% of patients die

within three years of diagnosis. There is currently no clear

treatment for the paralysis.

Reported the Chicago Tribune:

Amelie Gubitz, a research program director at the National Institute

of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, said the Northwestern study

was a big step forward.

"You need to understand at the cellular level what is going wrong,"

Gubitz said. "Then you can begin to design drugs."

Researchers think the new findings may also contribute to the study

of other neurodegenerative diseases like dementia and Alzheimer's.