Researchers at Northwestern May Have Found a Common Cause for All Types of ALS

A study published in Nature on August 21, 2011, suggests that researchers at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine may have found a common cause for all types of ALS - a malfunctioning protient recycling system.  Click here to read the press release.  This may be a major breakthrough in developing treatments for ALS if the common disease process identified by Northwestern is really a common disease process.  But other ALS researchers caution that there is a long way to go to determine whether what the researchers at Northwestern found is, in fact, a common cause that will allow for theraputic attacks.  The lead researcher, Dr. Siddique, spoke recently at Columbia University's Motor Neuron Center, which is one of the institutions funded by Wings.  Let's hope that this finding pans out and leads to movement toward finding a cure and treatments for ALS.  Help us fund the researchers by donating to Wings 2011 today.