If You Can Cure ALS, Then You Can Cure _____________ (Fill In The Blank)

The headline on the following article may seem ironic:

"Cause of ALS is Found, Brings Hope for a Cure for Alzheimer's Disease"

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/08/23/prweb8736207.DTL

My first reaction was, "Well, what about hope for a cure for ALS?" ... then I read the article.

Moving Pictures, Inc. (MPI) has doubled the percentage of their profits that they donate to Alzheimer's and dementia research, excited by the recent scientific breakthrough from Northwestern University. A new University study published in Nature identifying evidence of a common cause in all forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease), a neurodegenerative disease causing fatal paralysis, opens a door to a cure for a disease that has long stumped scientists.

True scientific breakthroughs that address ALS have been few and far between. It is acknowledged as a nettlesome, complex neurological challenge. Many feel that if you can solve the ALS problem, then you can solve a lot of neurological problems. This article was a testament to that theory.

It's wonderful that the wave of scientific ALS interest in the last week is leading to related scientific excitement for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's and other neurological conditions. Perhaps if we can unravel ALS to its common denominators then we can unravel a lot of other diseases that will make new drug development for ALS an attractive proposition.

Let's hope that companies like Neuraltus and Biogen Idec can bring their current "promising" ALS clinical trials to successful conclusions quickly so that possible therapies for ALS can be evaluated and delivered... then perhaps, they can leverage ALS success into success in other much larger patient groups. After all, if you can cure (or even treat) ALS, then you can cure ______.