A Controlled Trial of Riluzole in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder 1 associated with survival ranging from a few months to decades (median, 37 to 49 months) 2 – 5 . Known prognostic factors include age at onset, site of onset, duration of weakness, and degree of clinical disability or respiratory function 2 – 6 . The cause of the disease is unknown, and no treatment is known that influences survival. There are many hypotheses about the cause of the disease 7 . One holds that glutamate, the primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, accumulates to toxic concentrations at synapses and causes neurons to die, . . .