No charts on this one (more at the end about this).
Just observations that SHOULD point researchers towards a cure for this horrible disease, but of course, they only want to find treatments.
Take a look and see what you think.
According to the ALS Organization there are currently seven drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat ALS and its symptoms (SOURCE). They are:
a. Qalsody, also known as tofersen or BIIB067: Developed to treat ALS associated with a mutation in the superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) gene. FDA approved in 2023.
b. RELYVRIO (AMX0035): A combination of two drugs, sodium phenylbutyrate and taurursodiol, which act to prevent nerve cell death by blocking stress signals in cells. FDA approved in 2022.
c. Radicava™ (edaravone) The FDA approved Radicava™ in 2017. An oral formulation was approved in 2022.
d. Rilutek (riluzole, now generic) The first FDA-approved drug available to treat ALS — in 1995. It inhibits glutamate release.
i. Tiglutik A thickened liquid form of riluzole
ii. Exservan™ An oral film formulation of riluzole.
e. Nuedexta®: For the treatment of pseudobulbar affect (PBA), occurs secondary to a variety of otherwise unrelated neurologic conditions. Nuedexta® (dextromethorphan HBr and quinidine sulfate) was FDA-approved in 2011.
Now, let me add a little more depth to the ALS descriptions of these drugs with snippets from other sources:
a. Qalsody, also known as tofersen or BIIB067: “Regardless of the targeted region, ASOs reduced RNA foci, increased survival from glutamate excitotoxicity” (SOURCE )
b. RELYVRIO (AMX0035): “The drug reduces the level of glutamate” (SOURCE )
c. Radicava ™ (edaravone): “This edaravone concentration has been shown to protect miMNs from H2O2- and glutamate-induced neurotoxicity (SOURCE )
d. Rilutek (riluzole, now generic) The first FDA-approved drug available to treat ALS — in 1995. It inhibits glutamate release.
i. Tiglutik A thickened liquid form of riluzole It inhibits glutamate release.
ii. Exservan™ An oral film formulation of riluzole. It inhibits glutamate release.
e. Nuedexta: “(1) broad glutamatergic modulators …. Nuedexta [a combination of dextromethorphan and quinidine] (SOURCE )
Did you notice that Glutamate seems to be involved in EVERY treatment?
Now, this is the point where I would normally show you a correlation between two charts:
1. One showing the increase in prevalence, incidence, or mortality rates of ALS in the US.
2. The second one the increased availability/consumption of Manufactured free Glutamates in the US diet.
But for some reason, it appears that neither of these charts are available. Oh, and I’ve
looked. A lot.
Here’s the search I used to look for graphs on #1 above:
historical mortality prevalence incidence amyotrophic lateral sclerosis united states 1900 to 2022 pubmed nih ( SOURCE)
See anything useful there? I didn’t. I also used several other search variables. Ditto.
Now, graph #2 is something I’ve been trying to get since 2018. Can’t find the annual sales or market size in the United States for Monosodium Glutamate.
Or for that manner, any of the vast Food Additives Chemicals Market, which contains another minimum 40-50 items that contain Manufactured free Glutamates.
It’s like they are trying to hide the obvious correlation between ALS and Manufactured free Glutamate.
What do you think?