Category: Muscular Dystrophy / ALS

Smoking prevalence among people with disabilities is nearly 50 percent higher than among people without disabilities (29.9 percent vs. 19.8 percent), according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Preventing Chronic Disease. The study found that in 2004, smoking prevalence for people with disabilities is highest in Delaware (39.4 percent) and lowest in Puerto Rico (16.5 percent).

The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign’s Scottish conference took place on Saturday 22 September. The presence of several staff from the London Office helped to remind everyone that the Scottish membership is distinctive but very much part of the main organisation.

Knopp Neurosciences Inc. (”Knopp”) announced the initiation of a Phase 1 clinical trial of KNS-760704, a small molecule therapy in development for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single ascending dose study in healthy volunteers is being closely followed by a multiple ascending dose study in healthy subjects.

People were welcomed into the Church House Conference Centre with tea and coffee and were invited to take part in question and answer surgeries with MDC Care Advisors and view research posters produced by young scientists whose projects are funded by the charity. People then took part in workshops held on a number of key issues including campaigns, policies and fundraising. Children were entertained in the crèche where numerous works of art were produced.

Scientific experiments by a University of Queensland researcher have shown that our own brain activity can influence our sense of timing. Work by Dr Derek Arnold of the UQ School of Psychology goes against a widely held belief that activity in the cortex of the human brain does not influence how we perceive time.

Minister for Public Health, Shona Robison MSP, will be joined by families and individuals living with muscle disease on Wednesday 19 September to lobby Parliament and the Government to improve services for those living with the condition.The ‘My Life’ campaign calls on the Scottish Government to make independent living a priority for people with muscle disease, by improving provision of powered wheelchairs and home adaptations.

There is no known cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often known as Lou Gehrig disease and motor neuron disease. ALS is a progressive, fatal, neurodegenerative disease caused by the degeneration of nerves that control voluntary muscle movement.

University of Iowa researchers investigating the basic biology of cell signaling have made a discovery that may have therapeutic implications for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases.The UI team, led by John Engelhardt, Ph.D., professor and head of anatomy and cell biology in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A.

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone published ‘Inclusive and Active’ - an action plan designed to help increase the number of disabled people in London participating in any sport at any level.Disabled Londoners have fewer opportunities or choice of sports activites and facilities than others, leading to less than one in five disabled adults in London taking part in any regular sport or physical activity.

A new mouse model for myotonic dystrophy — the most common form of adult-onset muscular dystrophy — helped Baylor College of Medicine researchers show that levels of CUGBP1, a protein that binds and controls the activity of the genetic material RNA, increase early in affected cells of the animals with the disease. This means CUGBP1 plays a key role in the disorder.