Progress in ALS, which took life of Mauril Belanger, accelerating: researchers
TORONTO — The death of Liberal MP Mauril Belanger has shone a spotlight on one of humanity’s most devastating diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
While the prognosis for those who develop ALS remains grim — most die within two to five years after onset of symptoms — researchers say hopes have never been higher for at least a treatment to slow its relentless progression.
“There’s no question the pace of discovery has been accelerated,” says neurologist Dr. Lorne Zinman, who heads the ALS clinic at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.
A number of genes that underlie inherited cases of the disease have been identified, says Zinman, chairman of the Canadian ALS Research Network.