[Drug therapy for symptomatic relief in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a neurodegenerative disease that has no curative treatment. However, some symptoms of the disease can respond to specific treatments. The aim of these treatments is to enhance the patient's quality of life and in some instances survival. Besides physical therapy, and nutritional and respiratory supportive systems, several specific medications can be useful. However, despite the frequency of these symptoms, few studies have evaluated the benefit of these medications in ALS. Their use is most often based on clinical experience or on studies conducted in other neurological diseases. So, for most of these medications, available evidence does not permit a precise evaluation if their impact on quality of life and survival.