(NewsNation) — ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a fatal neurological disease with no cure. For people who carry genetic mutations linked to the disease, one of the biggest challenges is not knowing when symptoms might begin.
New research funded by the National Institutes of Health could help change that.
Researchers have developed a blood test that may predict when an at-risk person is likely to develop ALS symptoms, providing a potential window for preventive treatment before irreversible nerve damage occurs.
The study identified protein markers in the blood that can help predict the onset of symptoms, a transition known as phenoconversion.
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Dr. Michael Benatar, the study's senior author and a professor at the University of Miami, called the findings an "important step forward" in the effort to prevent ALS.
The blood test was able to estimate symptom onset with an average margin of error of about 18 months.
"This gives us a much tighter timeline, and it is really critical for the design of trials that test whether an experimental drug can prevent disease," Benatar told NewsNation. "Being able to narrow this window for intervention is very key."
Benatar cautioned that the test is not yet ready for clinical use and that additional research is needed before it can be widely adopted.
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