[Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In search of its etio-pathogenic mechanisms]

The etiological problem of ALS has still not been resolved although a large amount of work, more and more technical, has been devoted in the fields of immunology, virology, environment and genetics. This research is related to spinal amyotrophies in general--to motor neuron diseases--and it is only as an analogy or as a model that the results may be used in the specific case of ALS. The genetic hypothesis of ALS is suggested by family cases (in adults) and seems to be linked to Parkinson and Alzheimer diseases; all of these are 'degenerative' nervous diseases and there are examples of their association. Research is being done in anatomy, embryogenesis, neurochemistry, molecular genetics to investigate the pathophysiology of neuron considered the only way to develop a specific therapy. The treatment, although still symptomatic, is improving due to technical progress in management.