Stephen Hawking's contribution to science is hard to underestimate, as is his zeal for life. As you know, the famous scientist suffered from a poorly treatable disease called "amyotrophic lateral sclerosis", which ultimately became the cause of Stephen's death. At the same time, the disease claims many lives every year, and, quite possibly, a group of researchers from the Weizmann Institute (Israel) discovered how a serious illness can be cured. At least the preliminary data speaks for this.
What is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis?
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (abbreviated as ALS) is a slowly developing disease characterized by gradual damage to the motor regions of both the brain and spinal cord. As a result, a person gradually develops paralysis, and then muscle atrophy. The manifestations of the disease are gradually "growing". And, if at first the muscles of the limbs fail, then over time, other types of muscles begin to work poorly. As a result, the patient with ALS will die from respiratory tract infections or respiratory muscle failure. As a rule, ALS patients live no more than 3-5 years from the moment of detection of the disease.
But in rare cases, the condition of patients can stabilize and the course of the disease slows down or stops altogether. This is what allowed Stephen Hawking to live a long life. Another prime example is American rock musician Jason Becker, who has lived with ALS from 1989 to this day.
What causes amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
The exact reasons remain unclear today. It is known that there are both hereditary and acquired forms of the disease, however, new data suggest that the state of the gastrointestinal tract may be responsible for the development of the disease. There seems to be no connection between the GI tract and the nervous system. But this is only at first glance, say scientists from Israel.
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A group of researchers from the Weizmann Institute in the course of studying a population of rodents affected by one of the forms of ALS, found that mice with a predisposition to the disease felt much worse when their intestinal microflora was practically destroyed by antibiotics. In mice with almost destroyed microflora, the symptoms of amyotrophic sclerosis manifested themselves more quickly than in rodents with a normal state of the gastrointestinal tract.
The researchers then analyzed the bacterial composition of the stomach and intestines of healthy mice and mice with a predisposition to ALS and calculated 11 of the most common strains of bacteria that were present in each group. After that, they found that the bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila secreted a lot of a substance called nicotinamide. This would not be anything unusual, but the fact is that nicotinamide significantly slows down the course of the disease and improves the functioning of the central nervous system.
The scientists did not stop there and studied the state of intestinal microflora in 37 patients with ALS. They found that all patients had low blood levels of nicotinamide. Moreover, when experts injected nicotinamide in ALS mice, their condition improved significantly.
Found a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis?
That's a very difficult question. On the one hand, the drug developed by scientists from Israel works. And this is confirmed by the data obtained in the course of research. On the other hand, there has not yet been a full-fledged study in humans. In addition, the presence of long-term side effects from the drug in the future cannot be ruled out. Scientists themselves also warn that the results of their work should not be taken as a "signal to action." However, if further trials are successful, the finished drug can be expected on the market in a few years.
Vladimir Kuznetsov