The Effect of Caloric Balance on Disease Progression and Survival in ALS Patients

Due to the motor neuron degeneration effects of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), patients lose muscle and body fat, and show declining body mass index (BMI). Caloric intake also suffers due to difficulty in swallowing, caloric expense is increased due to hypermetabolism and inefficient use of calories, and caloric imbalance results, the effects of these processes on disease progression is analyzed further in this study. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of caloric balance on disease progression and survival in ALS Patients.There are two main goals of this study. The first is to estimate caloric requirement of ALS patients using an equation developed specifically for use in ALS patients. This, together with an estimate of 24-hour caloric intake by ALS patients through recall, will provide a measure of caloric balance in ALS patients. The second goal of this study is to examine the effect of caloric balance on progression of the disease using disease-severity measures (such as the ALS Functional rating Score [ALSFRS] and forced vital capacity [FVC]), and survival rates, in ALS patients. These two aims will contribute to the overarching objective of determining whether meeting caloric needs by ALS patients helps to predict disease progression and survival rates. We hypothesize that ALS patients who fail to meet their caloric balance will show faster rates of disease progression and shortened survival rates. We are still in the process of analyzing our data, so we have no conclusions to present at the moment