Treatment and quality of life for people with ALS

### What is ALS? Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is also known as motor neuron disease and Lou Gehrig disease. It is a degenerative disease of the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain and spinal cord that causes progressive weakness of the arms and legs, eventually leading to total paralysis. At this time there are treatments available that can help with some of the symptoms of ALS, but there is no cure. More information about ALS and some of the available treatments can be found on the next page. ### Minocycline as a new treatment for ALS In this issue of Neurology , Gordon et al.1 report on two small studies of a drug called minocycline in patients with ALS. Minocycline is approved to manage infection. It has also been effective in slowing down brain damage in animal models of diseases like stroke and Parkinson disease. We think it does this by protecting the brain against the bad effects of inflammation. Investigators compared two doses of minocycline with placebo (dummy or sugar pill) to see whether the drug would be safe in patients with ALS. There were not enough patients enrolled at either dose to test whether the drug was effective at slowing down the disease. The investigators found that patients with ALS who took the lower dose of minocycline had no more side effects than people taking the placebo. More side effects were seen in the patients taking the higher dose. These included gastrointestinal problems and liver and kidney abnormalities. Based on the …