Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Exploring Risks Associated with Traumatic Brain Injury and Promising Clinical Trials

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a motor neuron disease that often leads to rapidly progressing disability and death. The etiology of this neurodegenerative process is not yet understood, with 90% of ALS cases considered sporadic. Because ALS is fatal, understanding ALS risk factors is a critical public health issue both to improve knowledge of disease pathogenesis, and to provide potential interventions to minimize these risks. Several putative risk factors associated with sporadic cases have been proposed, including repetitive head impacts (RHI) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). There have been recent advances in understanding the relationship between ALS and TBI from an epidemiologic and pathologic perspective in addition to important progress in ALS therapeutics. This session will review these important advances with specific focus on their relevance to physiatrists. In particular, this topic has direct relevance to general physiatrists, as well as specialists in brain injury, sports, and neuromuscular medicine.