Northwestern University Finds Common Cause of ALS

Chicago - A major medical breakthrough is raising hope for patients suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease. Researchers at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine think they have unlocked the "blackbox" of the the cruel disease that debilitates the body's muscles and usually results in death within three to five years.

Ana Maria Pagan, 51, of Chicago, has been battling the effects of the disease, known as ALS, for nearly a year. When she got word of the discovery, she shouted for joy and texted family and friends with the news.

"There is hope, there is hope," Pagan said.

ALS runs in Pagan's family. It killed her mother and two aunts when they were in their fifties. With three teenage children, Pagan worries that they may one day suffer her same fate.

"That's on my mind every day, every day the fear that I have passed this on to them is what kills me," Pagan said, battling back her emotions.

Northwestern's Dr. Teepu Siddique led a team of researchers that made the discovery that a mutated protein causes all forms of ALS. He likens the neurological malfunction to a traffic cop gone "bonkers" causing gridlock. Now science understands that.

"We have our finger on the pulse now. So the next stop, obviously, is to identify and discover compounds, screen compounds and see what will regulate this pathway," Dr. Siddique said.

Siddique is hopeful that a cure will now come quickly. The findings are shared among researchers, with a lot of funding for that coming from the Skokie-based Les Turner ALS Foundation and the National Institute of Health.

Pagan, who says she continually tries to keep a positive attitude despite her condition, stresses that message to her teenagers.

"I only try to teach them, that if you do get it, live life to the fullest every day treasure life, because you don't know what it can bring you," she said.

Now she has hope that researchers will find a cure in time to spare her children.