Proteins mark ALS
By Janet Raloff
From Washington, D.C., at the Experimental Biology 2004 meeting
Today, physicians diagnose people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)—better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease—by process of elimination. In a series of exams that can last a year, a doctor must rule out other neurological diseases with similar symptoms, such as muscle weakness or slurred speech. A University of Pittsburgh pathologist now reports finding a perturbed pattern of proteins—some elevated, others abnormally low—in the cerebrospinal fluid of ALS patients.