Denham Springs man diagnosed with ALS helping to connect community
DENHAM SPRINGS, La. (Louisiana First) — Joe Redmond had a successful career as a radio and music executive in Louisiana and Tennessee for 40 years. Over time, he started having trouble with his voice and speaking.
'I was slurring and often asked to repeat things so I knew something was wrong,' he said.
Redmond saw many doctors over five years. Finally, he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease. This is a deadly neurodegenerative disorder that impacts motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord.
'Finally getting a diagnosis was kind of a relief,' he said.
Redmond said he struggles with his speech and balance. Because of this diagnosis, he had to retire. The 62-year-old Denham Springs resident has become an ALS advocate. He talks to state and federal lawmakers about more funding for ALS research. He also volunteers with EverythingALS and its Pathfinder program.
It's a free app to empower those living with ALS and offers essential resources for their caregivers 24/7. Families can find advice and emotional support. They can also chat with peers who understand their journey.
'It's nice to know there's someone else for you out there because this is a very isolating disease,' Redmond stated.
The ultimate goal of the program is to eradicate ALS.
Vice President JD Vance kicks off CPAC
Denham Springs man diagnosed with ALS helping to connect community
Krewe of Orion parade theme brings New Orleans to Baton Rouge
McConnell won't seek reelection to Senate
Creative control of James Bond franchise given to Amazon MGM
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
17 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Kingston blows by fundraising target with ALS Canada Walk
Nearly 300 people took to Lake Ontario Park in Kingston on Saturday to take part in the Walk to End ALS, and blowing the area's funding goal out of the water in the process. 22 communities are participating in fundraising walks across Ontario alone, with a few others hosted throughout provinces across the country in addition to a virtual walk that encourages fundraising and participation from anywhere. Most of the walks are held during June, which marks ALS awareness month, but a few kicked off at the end of May before Kingston, with two more weekends of in person walks still to be held. Kim Barry, President of Community Services for ALS Canada, says participation and fundraising in communities is often most driven by people close to those living with ALS. She says while Kingston is not the biggest community and generally not the largest walk, an already lofty fundraising target was shattered. 'We have about 27 people living with ALS in the Kingston area right now, it's not a significantly large walk,' 'The goal was to raise $45,000, which is very generous of that community... we have now hit $120,000 for Kingston specifically.' As of Tuesday morning ALS Canada's tracker had Kingston just shy of that $120,000 mark, but with donations still continuing to trickle in. Barry pointed out the efforts of Marjorie Cooke and her supporters, who as a group have raised over $90,000 after an initial personal goal of $60,000. She said that while their support this year was a massive part of Kingston's fundraising, it's an event that some community members have continued to be a part of for over 20 years. Barry also says the fundraising record for Kingston being shattered comes as a surprise in any case, but especially since up until recently there was some nervousness about overall participation. 'Truthfully, just over a month ago, we were sitting with eight hundred dollars raised in Kingston,' Barry said. 'We were pretty concerned whether or not that was going to be able to go ahead, and then all of a sudden, families really just started fundraising and it's been amazing to see.' Barry says several communities have also surpassed funding goals, but the community of Kingston has really rallied in an unprecedented way. The money raised goes towards providing support for those living with ALS, accounting for roughly 60% of proceeds, and the rest to fund research with an ultimate goal of a world free of ALS. Since she started working with ALS Canada 12 years, Barry says there have been two new treatments approved for certain people with the disease, and while the ultimate goal is a treatment and a cure, there has been progress. In Ontario, the province wide goal for fundraising is $2 million, and with eight walks left to go during the next two weekends a total of nearly $1.7 million has been raised. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Boston Globe
a day ago
- Boston Globe
‘Sicker, weaker and less competitive': NIH chief to face Senate questions on budget cuts that threaten Mass.
The hearing comes at a pivotal moment for Bhattacharya and the NIH. On Monday, more than 300 NIH workers signed a letter to him decrying grant cuts, job terminations, and what they described as alarming politicization at an agency with a record of nonpartisan support for scientific research. The proposed cut, which would reduce the NIH budget to $27.5 billion, would be devastating for science and for Massachusetts' economy, said Bruce Fischl, a Harvard professor and neuroscientist at Massachusetts General Hospital. 'I don't think there's a state in the country that's going to be impacted more than Massachusetts,' Fischl said. Advertisement The The NIH workers' An agency spokesperson on Monday described the grant cuts as an effort to remove ideological influence from the work NIH supports. 'We are ending wasteful practices focusing on DEI, gender ideology and focusing on NIH's mission of only impactful science,' according to the budget proposal. The NIH workers who crafted the letter to Bhattacharya see things differently. 'What we've been asked to do seems illegal,' said Sylvia Chou, an NIH program officer and one of the letter's signers, in an interview Monday. 'It's not just a matter of morality or ethics.' While it is unclear how such a massive cut would be implemented, Chou said one possibility she has heard discussed was to stop issuing new grants altogether. Advertisement Massachusetts received NIH grant cuts, which face court challenges, reached $8.7 billion nationally as of Monday, and are still growing. Massachusetts has been particularly hard hit, with $2.4 billion in lost grant money so far this year. That accounts for all but $126 million of the grants affected throughout New England. 'President Trump's NIH cuts will halt research into lifesaving cures for cancer, Alzheimer's, ALS — diseases that impact everybody,' Governor Maura Healey said in a statement Monday. 'The President is making our country sicker, weaker and less competitive." The grants cut so far have targeted specific topics, such as research that touches on LGBTQ+ issues, or institutions, such as Harvard, which has lost $2.2 billion in NIH funding. As devastating as they have been, their harms pale in comparison to what a 40 percent budget cut would do, Fischl said. 'The 40 percent budget cut would destroy science in America,' Fischl said. He is unsure whether he would be able to continue his own research that explores how AI could evaluate brain imaging to identify the impacts of conditions like Alzheimer's and evaluate the effectiveness of treatments. The HHS budget document stated NIH is 'committed to gold-standard science and the restoration of scientific integrity and transparency.' Advertisement That promise is hard to reconcile with the impact of the agency's policies, Fischl said. 'The only thing that's consistent with the pattern of actions that's been taken is the radical downsizing of science in America,' he said. Chou, the NIH worker, plans to tune in to the Senate hearing, she said. She hopes senators ask about the harms already caused by halted research. She expects Bhattacharya to discuss academic freedom and his dislike of intellectual censorship. 'Those are words that ring hollow right now,' she said. 'I really wish he would commit to listening to us.' Jason Laughlin can be reached at
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Common Psychiatric Medications May Increase Risk of ALS
New research shows that people who take certain psychiatric medications may be more likely to develop amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which is the most common form of motor neurone disease (MND). This study, which was led by a team from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, raises some important questions about the connections between psychiatric symptoms, ALS, and MND, and how they might be targeted for treatment. Anxiolytics, hypnotics and sedatives, and antidepressants are the most commonly prescribed drugs for psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression, and sleep problems. In terms of increased ALS risk, it worked out as 34 percent, 21 percent, and 26 percent respectively for the three drug types. The increased risk is extremely small when taken in context with the low prevalence of ALS itself. Yet understanding these links could help improve our understanding of motor neurone disease and provide insights for specialists prescribing ways to treat common psychiatric disorders. "In this case-control study, prescribed use of anxiolytics, hypnotics and sedatives, or antidepressants was associated with a higher subsequent risk of ALS," write the researchers in their published paper. "Prediagnostic use of such medications was also associated with a poor prognosis after ALS diagnosis." At the moment, there's no cure for the progressive debilitation that ALS causes, as parts of the nervous system break down – leading to paralysis and, eventually, respiratory failure. The team also identified a slight increase in rate of decline and risk of an earlier death among those diagnosed with ALS who had been exposed to one of a number of psychiatric medications. The researchers used national health data in Sweden to compare 1,057 people with ALS who had been diagnosed between 2015 and 2023 with more than 5,000 controls matched for age and sex who had no MND diagnosis. The researchers also accounted for genetic and environmental factors in their analysis, further backing up the idea that the increased risk of ALS was connected to the medication – or the reasons the medications were prescribed. The data isn't enough to show the drugs are directly causing the increase in ALS risk. It's also possible that other health-related factors are causing both the prescription of psychiatric medications, and the higher likelihood of an ALS diagnosis. "This study adds to growing evidence that individuals with psychiatric conditions may face an elevated risk of neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS," says neuroscientist Susannah Tye, from the University of Queensland in Australia, who was not involved in the study. "However, the implication that psychiatric medications themselves contribute to this risk should be interpreted with caution." Given that previous research has found people with psychiatric disorders are also more at risk of developing ALS, these results may provide some much needed detail to the overall picture of how these different conditions, and their causes and treatments, fit together. It's worth noting that ALS remains a rare condition, affecting around 9 in 100,000 people in the US. Depression and anxiety are much more common, which means millions of people take these medications to treat their mental health without ever developing ALS. Over time though, scientists are gradually understanding the different factors that affect ALS risk, which should provide clues as to how it might one day be effectively treated. The research has been published in JAMA Network Open. Dementia Risk Declining With Each Generation, Says Promising New Study Several Psychiatric Disorders Share The Same Root Cause, Study Finds New Smart Dental Floss Can Detect Your Stress From Saliva
