Als Breakthrough Shows Fatal Disease Is Driven by Immune Attack
Posted3 months agoActive3 months ago
bloomberg.comResearchstory
calmpositive
Debate
10/100
Als ResearchNeurodegenerative DiseasesImmunotherapy
Key topics
Als Research
Neurodegenerative Diseases
Immunotherapy
A recent breakthrough in ALS research reveals that the fatal disease is driven by an immune attack on neurons, offering a new treatment target, and sparking discussion on potential therapeutic implications.
Snapshot generated from the HN discussion
Discussion Activity
Light discussionFirst comment
24m
Peak period
1
0-1h
Avg / period
1
Key moments
- 01Story posted
Oct 1, 2025 at 1:40 PM EDT
3 months ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Oct 1, 2025 at 2:04 PM EDT
24m after posting
Step 02 - 03Peak activity
1 comments in 0-1h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Oct 1, 2025 at 2:47 PM EDT
3 months ago
Step 04
Generating AI Summary...
Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns
ID: 45440623Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 6:24:41 PM
Want the full context?
Jump to the original sources
Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.
ALS is likely an umbrella term for various diseases, as it could stem from multiple causes. In ~10% of the cases, it's of familial origin, but environmental factors, such as eating false morels [1], certain jobs, or playing certain sports, can also trigger ALS, perhaps in a multiple-step manner.
The authors of the Nature article [0] studied whole-blood donations from 40 individuals with ALS and 28 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. This is a very small number to draw conclusions about a disease with such a large disparity of phenotypes that it defeats designing clinical trials.
[0] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09588-6
[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2025/03/als-outbr...