New finding! - protein called TDP-43

[DavidGL]

I believe this is of great interest, as it sounds promising. I haven't seen it posted here--hopefully I am not being redundant. This is real science, not quack stuff. I've got three sites of interest (I first heard about it on NPR the other day):

http://www.upenn.edu/researchatpenn/article.php?1119&hlt
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/06/health/webmd/main2070299.shtml

DavidGL

[Al]

Hi David. Haven't seen this posted anywhere else. Thanks for the information. AL.

[Patsy]

Thank you very much for the information.
Patsy

[Barbie4]

Very interesting articles. Thank you for posting them

Barb

[hboyajian]

My father was diagnosed with ALS 2 weeks ago. He is 84, and has also had a fair amount of short term memory loss in the last several years. I first noticed the memory loss 3 years ago when I was visiting him. It has since gotten worse. He didn't remember that I had been to visit, but he did remember a conversation we had. He began having symptoms of ALS a little more than 2 years ago, when he became weak, easily tired walking a short way, and his spine began to cave over such that he couldn't hold up his head. I noticed a huge difference in 6 months, but the doctor said he was just feeling his age and must have developed osteoporosis (thus the spinal kyphosis). Now we know the muscles in his back were being affected by the ALS. He was still working full time and more in his store. He also has an accident about then, tripping over a garden hose and whacking his head on a brick wall. I wonder about a couple of things. Could his memory loss be related to the development of ALS? Have the same or similar cause? Could the accident have precipitated the progression of nerve damage? I know I am just grasping at straws, and it is likely that any research along these lines will be too late for him, but I have a need to try to understand things.

[Al]

They are now doing studies on dementia in ALS. For years they thought it was not a general symptom but new studies show it is possible and especially if the person is older at onset. There have been a significant number of people here with stories of head trauma and then developing ALS. It is coincidental at the least but to my knowledge there are no large studies going on about it. Hope this helps. AL.

[dana]

My dad is 52 with bulbar ALS and has dementia along with it. I feel like the dementia is more difficult to deal with than the ALS. We have been told that dementia is more common in bulbar patients. As many as 20% of bulbar ALS patients will develop dementia symptoms too, or so we have been told. Dad's thinking difficulties started with him just feeling like he was losing his sense of humor. He was always the one cracking jokes and making people laugh. He could feel himself losing that towards the beginning of the disease. Over the past year, it has gotten much worse. IT is to the point now where he makes no sense and has a difficult time answering "yes" or "no" questions. When he does communicate, he writes down things that do not make sense. For example, he will want to be telling us something and will write down "1st bamboo." I have no idea what that means. His language skills have been effected tremendously. He still knows who we all are and enjoys spending time with the family though, so I am thankful for that. There seems to be nothing easy or fair about this disease.
Dana