CDC’s Public Health Grand Rounds Presents “National Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) Registry — Impact, Challenges, and Future Directions”

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has announced the next session of Public Health Grand Rounds, “National Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) Registry — Impact, Challenges, and Future Directions” which will be held on Tuesday, April 18, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. (ET).

Public Health Grand Round sessions are open to the public:

A live webcast will be available on CDC’s website. The link will be live five minutes before the presentation. View Public Health Grand Round sessions on CDC’s archive page at your convenience. Sessions are archived 3-4 days after each presentation.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), sometimes called Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a rapidly progressive, fatal neurological disease caused by degeneration of motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Researchers don’t know what causes ALS and there is no cure. Approximately 80 percent of persons with ALS die within 2-5 years of diagnosis.

What is known is that ALS continues to be more common in whites, males and persons between the ages of 60-69. US military veterans are disproportionately affected. For example, veterans who served in the first Gulf War were twice as likely to develop ALS as those not deployed to the Gulf War.

The National ALS Registry was created in 2010 to help scientists learns more about who gets ALS and what causes it. Persons with ALS can join the registry and complete brief surveys that help researchers understand possible risk factors for the disease, such as genetics, environmental, and occupational exposures. They also can choose to be alerted about research studies and clinical trials and have the option to contact the researchers to find out more.

Join CDC for this session of Public Health Grand Rounds as experts discuss the challenges for research, drug development, patient care, and the past, present and future of the national registry. 

For questions about this Grand Rounds topic:
Feel free to e-mail your questions before or during the session.

For more information on ALS visit https://www.cdc.gov/cdcgrandrounds/archives/2017/april2017.html