I’m sure you’ve heard about ALS after the “Ice Bucket Challenge” swept the nation in 2014, but few still probably took the time to research and learn more about the rare disease.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS for short, is a condition that affects one’s muscles and nerves. (This condition is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease or locked-in syndrome.) It is a progressive disorder that mostly develops in adults ages 40 to 70. Sadly, the average rate of survival for an ALS patient is only three years.
Luckily, however, a lot of recent advancements have been made in treating ALS.
After being approved on May 5, 2017 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a new drug called RADICAVATM (edaravone) has been researched and shown to drastically reduce the decline in physical function in ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) patients.
MT Pharma America, Inc. has recently presented these research findings on their new edaravone drug. According to MT Pharma America, Inc., for 48 weeks, ALS patients treated with RADICAVATM (edaravone) saw much slower ALS progression, as determined by the ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised.
Jean Hubble, M.D. and Vice President of Medical Affairs for MT Pharma America spoke on behalf of this new incredible finding: “The 12-month data presented at ENCALS suggest that early intervention with RADICAVA may lead to a meaningful clinical benefit when promptly initiated in people with ALS, as opposed to being delayed by six months.”
This is big news for the ALS community, as any advancement in treatment is better than no advancement at all. Hopefully, this treatment will hit the hospitals soon, and we’ll start to see longer life-expectancy, or even just higher quality-of-life for patients battling this devastating disorder.
For more information on dosage, research, side effects, and effectiveness of this drug, click here.
