News at UI Health

Fans at a recent UIC Flames baseball game heard more than a play-by-play commentary when Dr. Charles Abrams joined the broadcast booth to discuss ALS Awareness Month, ongoing research, and the importance of comprehensive patient care. 

As director of the Comprehensive Neuromuscular Center at UI Health, Dr. Abrams shared how his team supports patients and families living with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). 

Dr. Charles Abrams, Neurologist, talks with UIC Baseball about living with ALS.

What is ALS?

“ALS is a progressive disorder that’s mostly characterized by muscle weakness,” Dr. Abrams explained. “Our job as caregivers in the ALS clinic is to make them as functional as possible, to provide them with support so that they can go on living their life in a meaningful and fulfilling way.”

Does ALS affect everyone the same way?

“There’s a great deal of variability,” he said. “I have some patients who I’ve been taking care of for more than 10 years with this disorder. But unfortunately, in some cases, it progresses more quickly than that.”

What is important for people to understand about living with ALS?

“The point is that you’re living with ALS,” Dr. Abrams emphasized. “That’s our goal, to allow people to live with ALS and to maximize their quality of life.”

What types of support are available for patients with ALS?

“The best care of ALS is usually offered in a comprehensive care center, multidisciplinary clinic-type environment,” Dr. Abrams noted.

“At the [UI Health] and ALS United sponsored clinic, we provide a large number of different services to help support patients, from nutrition to speech pathology and swallowing and physical therapy, occupational therapy. We have a social worker in the clinic, a nurse in the clinic, and a pulmonary support team as well.”

What advancements in ALS research are giving you hope?

“I think that the thing that’s really most helpful right now is what we’re learning about the genetic causes of ALS,” Dr. Abrams shared.

“By understanding what those genes do and how the dysfunction of those genes leads to the disease, we can get much more insight into the fundamental abnormalities occurring in the nervous system. That gives us targets to address with medications and helps us try to interrupt the disease process”

Why is continued ALS research support important?

“We need more research, and we need more support,” he said. “It’s very important that we really engage not only in specific research about what causes ALS, but research about how the human body works and how biology works in a more general sense.”

The ALS Clinic at UI Health brings together a multidisciplinary team of medical professionals, including physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, respiratory therapists, dietitians, social workers, and nurses, to help patients manage their disease in a supportive, specialized, collaborative environment.

Learn more about our clinic here, or call 312.996.4780 to schedule an appointment.