Riluzole is the only medication shown to improve overall survival and slow symptom progression in which condition?

Riluzole is the only medication shown to improve overall survival and slow symptom progression in which condition?

• A. The only medication shown to improve overall survival and slow symptom progression in ALS
• B. A vitamin supplement
• C. An antibiotic
• D. A beta-blocker

Answer: (A)

Riluzole has shown a real, though modest, effect on the course of a specific neurodegenerative disease by reducing excitotoxic damage to motor neurons. In ALS, the neurons that control voluntary muscles progressively die, and riluzole helps slow that decline and extend overall survival compared with no treatment. It works by dampening glutamate activity, which is thought to contribute to neuron injury in ALS, so it can slightly delay symptom progression and the time to more advanced disease milestones. Other options don’t have proven disease-modifying benefits in ALS: vitamin supplements may support general health but haven’t shown a clear survival advantage in ALS; antibiotics treat infections rather than the underlying neurodegenerative process; beta-blockers target heart and blood pressure conditions and aren’t a treatment for ALS progression. So the condition described is ALS.

Riluzole has shown a real, though modest, effect on the course of a specific neurodegenerative disease by reducing excitotoxic damage to motor neurons. In ALS, the neurons that control voluntary muscles progressively die, and riluzole helps slow that decline and extend overall survival compared with no treatment. It works by dampening glutamate activity, which is thought to contribute to neuron injury in ALS, so it can slightly delay symptom progression and the time to more advanced disease milestones.

Other options don’t have proven disease-modifying benefits in ALS: vitamin supplements may support general health but haven’t shown a clear survival advantage in ALS; antibiotics treat infections rather than the underlying neurodegenerative process; beta-blockers target heart and blood pressure conditions and aren’t a treatment for ALS progression. So the condition described is ALS.