Update on Skin Test and ALS
Loss of skin elasticity goes along with ALS
From MDA/ALS News Magazine June 2009
Dematologist Harvey Arbesman of Williamsville, N.Y., and colleagues, found that skin elasticity was significantly reduced in 40 ALS patients, as compared to a control group of 30 unaffected family members.
Hiroshi Mitsumoto, an MDA research grantee and MDA/ALS Center director at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, was on the study team.
The researchers used a device called a Cutometer, which noninvasively measures the extent to which skin returns to its original position after pressure is applied.
The ALS and control groups were evaluated at baseline and three months later, with skin measurements taken on their arms and back.
At the start of the study, skin elasticity in the arm was significantly less in people with ALS than in the control group. Skin elasticity on the back was significantly correlated with disease progression in the ALS group, becoming less elastic as scores on the ALS Functional Rating Scale and respiratory capacity declined.
The researchers noted that the central nervous system and skin share the same embryologic origin and that many diseases affect both systems. They said further studies are needed, but that skin elasticity could be a valuable, noninvasive way to help detect ALS and assess disease progression.