Healthcare Professionals
Make a Difference
PLEASE NOTE:
As of November 23, 2009, ALS Canada has a new address and phone number:
3000 Steeles Avenue East, Suite 200
Markham, Ontario L3R 4T9
Phone: 905-248-2052   Fax: 905-248-2019

Healthcare Professionals

Welcome to the ALS Society of Canada on line resources for Healthcare Professionals caring for people with ALS. Here you will find the latest and most comprehensive information about this disease.
 
RESOURCES OF INTEREST:

  • ALS - Case Conundrums by Wendy Johnston - January 2006
    • A clinical look at the disease that renders a body helpless
  • A Guide to ALS Patient Care For Primary Care Physicians
    • If you are a family doctor or general practitioner with a patient recently diagnosed with ALS or a patient you suspect may have ALS, the new Guide to ALS Care for Primary Care Physicians is for you! To ensure the best possible quality of care, it is critical that patients with ALS have primary care physicians who are knowledgeable about their disease and who work in collaboration with an ALS specialty team. The new Guide will assist you to:

      • recognize signs and symptoms of ALS
      • understand ALS progression, symptom management, changing patient needs, and the importance of interdisciplinary ALS care
      • help your patients and caregivers cope with living with this very complex and progressive neuromuscular disease
  • ALS Healthcare Professional Handbook
    • This Healthcare Professional Handbook is available in both official languages, in PDF format or may be ordered from the ALS Society of Canada.
  • Manuals for People Living with ALS
    • The Manual for People Living with ALS is a resource developed by the ALS Society and is provided free of charge to all Canadians diagnosed with ALS, delivered either by their clinic or through the Provincial ALS Society.  It is available in English and French either in print or downloadable from this site.
  • Making Hard Decisions
    • Making Hard Decisions is a video with study guide designed for Healthcare Professionals to assist those with life threatening diseases to discuss the 'hard decisions'.  The 30 minute video is a conversation with Karen and Dr Barry Smith, the former Dean of Medicine, Queen's University then living with ALS.  To order copies contact LM Media Marketing Services Ltd., 1-800-268-2380, lmmedia@rogers.com; Fax 905-665-9353; web site http://www.lm-media.com/videos/                                                                           
  • Resources on the web
  • Research
  • Drug Trials
  • Directory of International ALS/MND Organizations
  • BOOKS
  • VIDEOS for the Healthcare professional
ALS Research News - The latest ALS als research articles.
1.  Study Links Neurodegeneration in Head Trauma and ALS

Nearly four years since researchers identified the mystery component of toxic protein aggregates in ALS and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD)-affected motor neurons as TAR DNA-binding protein ( ◊

"Study Links Neurodegeneration in Head Trauma and ALS"
2.  New Genes, Proteins and Biomarkers

Buried deep within thick skulls and boney spines, the neurons of the central nervous system are, perhaps, the most protected cells of the body. This is good news for healthy neurons, but bad news for ◊

"New Genes, Proteins and Biomarkers"
3.  A clinical study of Ceftriaxone in ALS

A clinical study of Ceftriaxone in ALS. ◊

"A clinical study of Ceftriaxone in ALS"
4.  ALS Vaccine To Target Misfolded SOD1

Mutations in the gene encoding superoxide dismutase cause approximately 20 per cent of familial ALS cases, according to a paper recently published in Human Molecular Genetics. ◊

"ALS Vaccine To Target Misfolded SOD1"
5.  Is BMAA a neurotoxin relevant to ALS?

Cyanobacteria, also known as the blue-green algae that smother ponds, lakes and seas around the world, produce several toxins. Among them is beta-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA), an amino acid that some ◊

"Is BMAA a neurotoxin relevant to ALS?"
6.  Neurodegenerative Disease Research Accelerates

While scientists worldwide strive to understand neurodegeneration and find ways to slow or stop it, variations in how they perform experiments and interpret their findings can slow the global effort t ◊

"Neurodegenerative Disease Research Accelerates"
7.  ALSUntangled investigates stem cell transplants in Mexico and Germany

Although stem cell transplants might eventually represent an effective treatment for ALS, many challenges need to be overcome, such as how to deliver the cells into motor areas throughout the nervous ◊

"ALSUntangled investigates stem cell transplants in Mexico and Germany"
8.  Guidelines for preclinical animal research

We know more about the biology underlying ALS than ever before, but little of this knowledge has been translated into effective treatments for patients. ◊

"Guidelines for preclinical animal research"