Healthcare Professionals
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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.  Abnormal SOD1 folding is unique to familial ALS, researchers say

Mutations in the gene encoding superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) cause up to 20 per cent of inherited ALS cases (familial ALS). They’ve even been observed in a small fraction of sporadic cases. It has bee ◊

"Abnormal SOD1 folding is unique to familial ALS, researchers say"
2.  Swimming-based exercise preserves motor neuron function

Whether exercise predisposes to or protects against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a topic of ongoing debate. ◊

"Swimming-based exercise preserves motor neuron function"
3.  Synapse formation can be triggered artificially

The formation of synapses – the junctions through which neurotransmitters relay chemical signals allowing neurons to communicate information – typically requires contact between presynaptic and postsy ◊

"Synapse formation can be triggered artificially"
4.  Phase 3 talampanel trial begins

Talampanel, a drug currently not approved in Canada or the United States, is undergoing an international Phase 3 trial involving 500 patients with ALS in centres across Europe, Canada and the US. In a ◊

"Phase 3 talampanel trial begins"
5.  Genetic contributors to motor neuron diseases

The recent discovery of a number of genes known to cause motor neuron diseases such as ALS has provided new insights into the mechanisms underlying motor neuron degeneration, according to a recent art ◊

"Genetic contributors to motor neuron diseases"
6.  Defining survival as an outcome measure for clinical trials in ALS

Clinical trials in ALS often use patient survival as an outcome measure to examine whether a treatment prolongs life. But variables affecting survival rates – such as emergency tracheostomy – are dif ◊

"Defining survival as an outcome measure for clinical trials in ALS"
7.  Encouraging trial results for KNS-760704

At the 20th Internal Symposium on ALS/MND, researchers presented the results of a Phase 2 clinical trial testing the safety and tolerability of a drug called KNS-760704 for use by ALS patients. KNS-7 ◊

"Encouraging trial results for KNS-760704 "
8.  Molecule discovered that might help ALS Patients

University of Texas researchers identified a molecule that reduces symptoms and prolongs life in mice with a type of ALS, according to a study in the Dec. 11, 2009, issue of Science. Lead author Eric ◊

"Molecule discovered that might help ALS Patients"