Symptomatic treatment of ALS

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Abstract
Two types of treatment options are available for patients with ALS: those that are disease-specific and those that are patient-specific. As discussed in detail elsewhere in this issue, there is an expanding armamentarium of potentially useful pharmacologic agents for the treatment of ALS. Riluzole, a glutamate antagonist, is the only agent approved for the treatment of ALS. Others (e.g., other glutamate inhibitors, neurotrophic factors) are now undergoing clinical trials or are being used on an experimental basis. Although at present there is no cure for ALS, a drug such as riluzole has been shown to slow disease progression and improve survival outcomes. [1,2] Disease-specific therapies are only one aspect of an overall management program for ALS. Many symptomatic treatments designed to enhance the patient's overall quality of life by mitigating the complications of ALS and enhancing patient comfort provide an equally important dimension of patient care.

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