November 8, 2006

Research Update — from ALSA’s National Office

The ALS Association Funds Muscle Strength Testing Approach

Roberta Friedman, Ph.D., ALSA Research Department Information Coordinator

A way to more reliably and comfortably measure muscle strength in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) will be developed by researchers funded by The ALS Association through its Association-initiated program to provide a biomarker of disease progression that would serve in testing candidate therapies. Among several investigations into muscle strength and nerve functioning funded by The ALS Association, this effort to produce a prototype device should provide a means to detect small improvements in strength that would streamline clinical trials with more confidence in real changes that are meaningful to patients.

Existing means for strength testing of limbs rely on cumbersome equipment with the need to change positions during testing. Other measures of strength, and muscle and nerve function are more invasive. Patricia Andres and colleagues working with Merit Cudkowicz, M.D., at Massachusetts General Hospital will develop and test a prototype that will allow a patient to remain seated in a wheelchair when that is needed in order to record the strength in limb muscles. The device will be simple and portable between exam rooms and will incorporate the means to transfer data acquired directly to computer.

Muscles lose strength as the disease progresses. Effective therapy revealed in clinical trials should be able to slow or halt this loss of strength. The ability to give an index of strength that is sensitive to small improvement and reflects the same result no matter who is doing the testing, or who is being tested, is critical to the ability of trials to provide a true measure of change. The ALS Association is pleased to be able to aid in bridging the gap between lab testing in animals, where such objective measures exist, and clinical testing in patients, where such simple measures are still sought.

See The ALS Association’s web site under the research tab for further information about biomarkers in ALS and about clinical trials in the disease.