Prof. Dr. Kerem Teralı draws attention to ALS

Cyprus International University (CIU) Faculty of Medicine Vice Dean Prof. Dr. Kerem Teralı talked about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which is in the category of rare neurological diseases, and drew attention to the fact that this disease is a disorder of the nervous system components that control voluntary muscle movements.
Teralı stated that the motor neurons, that is, the nerve cells that control muscle cells, are gradually lost in ASL patients, and shared the information, “When these motor neurons are lost, the muscles they control become weaker and then become dysfunctional.” 
Teralı stated that 1 to 3 new ALS cases are diagnosed among every 100 thousand individuals worldwide every year, and said, “This puts ALS in the category of rare neurological diseases.”
Teralı stated that while there are nearly 200 ALS patients in South Cyprus, this number is around 8 thousand in Turkey, and that since there is no epidemiological study on ALS in North Cyprus, unfortunately how many ALS patients are diagnosed in the country is not known. 
Teralı said that ALS disease usually occurs in the middle-age group (late 50’s or early 60’s), but noted that the disease can also be observed among young adults and geriatric individuals.
Teralı also pointed out that approximately 5-10% of ALS cases are hereditary and most of them are caused by mutations in the gene that codes for the enzyme called superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), and said, “The remaining 90-95% of cases are sporadic, meaning they occur as a result of environmental triggers or gene-environment interactions.”
Prof. Dr. Teralı also talked about the most common cause of death in ALS patients, stating that respiratory failure leads to complications in ALS patients resulting in the loss of the  patient.
Teralı also pointed out that as CIU Faculty of Medicine faculty members, they are investigating the molecular mechanisms of ALS and non-ALS neurological disorders associated with SOD1, said, “We have been continuing to contribute to the scientific literature with our research articles published in the journals ‘Molecular Biology Reports’ and ‘Acta Neurologica Belgica’ for the past two years.”