A new blood test may spot ALS years before symptoms emerge, Elizabeth Tracey reports

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ALS is a diagnosis no one wants to hear. Also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, the condition robs a person of the ability to control their muscles, and eventually their breathing. Now a new blood test developed and tested by Johns Hopkins movement disorders expert Alex Pantelyat and colleagues can spot ALS years before symptoms begin.

Pantelyat: This is a project that took many years to complete because it involved gathering samples from patients with ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions from multiple countries. Our team was able to find a protein signature and reliably tell apart between Lou Gehrig's disease and healthy individuals as well as those with neurodegenerative conditions that may have some overlap with ALS in terms of how they present.          :32

Pantelyat says this recognition should point the way to interventions to help. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.