The Farr Disease [Paperback]

In 1880, Dr. William Osler of McGill University in Montreal published an article in a medical journal entitled, Heredity in Progressive Muscular Atrophy as Illustrated in the Farr Family of Vermont. In that article he reported on the case of a farmer from Sutton, Vermont named Erastus Farr, and told the story of Erastuss father, an uncle and an aunt, and four cousins, all of whom had died young of this disease of muscle wasting, now known as Familial Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. In his well-researched book, Dan Swainbank tells the rest of the continuing story: of the familys losses over the next 135 years, of the advances in our understanding of ALS and the discovery of the familys defective gene in 1993, of the familys involvement in research and clinical trials, and the on-going search for a cure. It is also an account of a familys love and support, and the love and support of a community which keeps the hope alive that someday this sad story will have a happy ending. This family has been of immense importance to studies of ALS. Through this family, and others like it, it was possible to discover the first ALS genes. In turn, those led to cell and animal models of the disease which have been critical in efforts to find treatments for ALS. It is possible that the first types of ALS to be treated will be those that have been so devastating to this wonderful family. Dr. Robert H. Brown. University of Massachusetts Medical School, Professor and Chair of Neurology. Discoverer of the first ALS-related gene. It is because of the involvement in research of the Farr family and their descendants that we learned about SOD1 ALS and ways to treat it. Their love for each other and passion to help others fueled this research and has given hope to many who live with ALS. We are at an unprecedented time where several clinical trials to silence the genetic mutation in SOD1 are possible and happening. These include the use of antisense oligonucleotides and gene therl#;