11 children diagnosed with new form of ALS

Six years ago, a teenager from Italy traveled to the U.S. in hopes of finding a diagnosis for her mysterious medical condition, which had caused her to lose the ability to walk and required her to have a breathing tube. Now, researchers have diagnosed her and 10 other children with a new form of ALS that strikes in childhood and progresses more slowly than what is typically seen with this condition.

"We hope these results will help doctors recognize this new form of ALS and lead to the development of treatments that will improve the lives of these children and young adults," Dr. Carsten Bönnemann, senior investigator at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and a senior author of the study, said in a statement. "We also hope that our results may provide new clues to understanding and treating other forms of the disease." ALS is a rare disease that causes progressive degeneration and death of the nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movements, such as chewing, walking, talking and breathing, according to the NINDS. Most people with ALS develop symptoms between ages 55 and 75, and the disease usually progresses rapidly, with death occurring in three to five years after diagnosis.