VA Mistakenly Tells Hundreds of Vets They Have ALS

Physicist offers advice for living with disability

(NEWSER) - When you can only speak by twitching your cheek toward words flitting past your screen, you don’t tend to do a lot of interviews. But Stephen Hawking sat down with the New York Times last month to talk about his life, aliens, and health care. Some highlights:

• On aliens: Contacting aliens is asking for trouble; they might be so advanced “that our civilization might not survive the experience.” But if they make first contact, it’s a different story. “I have no doubt that if we are ever contacted by such beings, we would want to respond.”

Study: ALS is sometimes misdiagnosed

(NEWSER) - A new study has found that some patients diagnosed with ALS actually suffered from a different fatal disease that affects the central nervous system—and implies that Lou Gehrig himself may not have had ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The study's review of the spinal cords of three deceased athletes found that they did not actually have ALS, and that the ALS-like disease they succumbed to was caused by concussions and brain trauma. More»

ALS patient explains why he chooses quality of life over quantity

(NEWSER) - Martin Welsh considers himself a lucky man, with a loving family and innumerable friends. “Life has been truly wonderful,” the 55-year-old doctor writes in the Los Angeles Times. But soon, that life will end, and he doesn’t want his doctors to do anything to prolong it. Welsh has ALS, a neurological illness that’s already paralyzed one of his arms and both of his legs, and left him unable to speak. More»

'I choose not only how I will live, but if I will live'

(NEWSER) - When writer Catherine Royce became an ALS patient, she shared with NPR her passionate belief that she should be able to meet her decline and eventual death on her own terms. "Every day, I choose not only how I will live, but if I will live," she said 2 1/2 years ago. By last month, she had lost the ability to walk, type, and feed herself—but not the power of choice. Royce picked a date to have her life-support system turned down while her family stood by her. More»

Research holds promise for Lou Gehrig's disease

(NEWSER) - A US team has made a breakthrough in stem cell research, growing new nerve cells from the skin of patients suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease, or ALS. The work marks the first time disease-specific stem cells have been generated from a patient.The method could be used to tailor replacement cells to create a revolutionary treatment for the fatal degenerative disease, reports the Daily Telegraph. More»