Identification of abnormal protein may help diagnose, treat ALS and frontotemporal dementia
Tuesday, February 12, 2013 - 14:31
in Health & Medicine
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are devastating neurodegenerative diseases with no effective treatment. Researchers are beginning to recognize ALS and FTD as part of a spectrum disorder with overlapping symptoms. Now investigators have discovered an abnormal protein that first forms as a result of genetic abnormalities and later builds up in the brains of many patients with either disease.