Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

Doctors and departments

Mayo Clinic is on the forefront of researching a cure for ALS. Researchers at Mayo Clinic study the possible causes of ALS. This includes identifying biomarkers in blood and cerebrospinal fluid that might someday help to identify and monitor loss of motor neurons in ALS. The biomarkers also may help monitor response to treatment.

Mayo Clinic research also includes finding genes that might cause or contribute to getting ALS. Together with teams at other institutions, Mayo Clinic researchers discovered the C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat expansion (C9), a gene variation that can cause ALS and frontotemporal dementia. This gene variation is the most common cause of ALS. The discovery allowed Mayo Clinic researchers to find a way to predict ALS and other brain aging conditions.

Research at Mayo Clinic into the genetic aspects of the disease is ongoing. It's hoped that future discoveries lead researchers to find new, effective treatments for people with ALS. Find out more about ALS research at Mayo Clinic in the Department of Neurology Research.

In addition, Mayo Clinic researchers study potential new treatments for people with ALS and ALS-related diseases. They also participate in clinical trials of potential new medicines.

To create effective treatments, researchers need to better understand ALS. There are many projects available to people with ALS to volunteer and donate blood and spinal fluid to help find a cure.

Find out more about ALS clinical trials at Mayo Clinic.

See a list of publications about ALS by Mayo Clinic doctors on PubMed, a service of the National Library of Medicine.