Princess Astrid of Belgium has visited Belgian ALS researchers to learn more about the disease and research into finding a cure.
The Princess was at the VIB Center for Brain Research in Leuven where she was informed about ALS (or MND in the United Kingdom) and the research being conducted.
Professor Ludo Van Den Bosch and his team on the Gasthuisberg campus in Leuven have researched ALS for decades. They use fruit flies, zebrafish, mice and other things to study the cause and possible treatments of the disease.
Astrid visited the research centre because Van Den Bosch won the Generet Prize last year – one of the most important awards for research into rare diseases worth a subsidy of one million euros.
The professor later told the Belga news agency: “The Princess was very interested, she asked a lot of questions. The fact that she takes the time to visit is a great show of appreciation for us. It brings more attention to our research, which helps when looking for funding for more research.”
ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a progressive neurological disease that renders the patient unable to walk, talk, eat or breathe. There is no treatment or cure for ALS and it is always fatal. A person’s prognosis depends on the type of ALS and the stage it is discovered in. For those with bulbar ALS, the disease begins where it ends – in the mouth, throat and ultimately lungs; those people do not survive past a couple of years (if that). Others with a less progressive form of the disease can live for years with the assistance of feeding tubes and breathing machines, like famous physicist Stephen Hawking.
You can read more about ALS and find out how to join the fight against this horrid disease through the ALS Association.
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