A new study found that Black patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) experienced longer delays to being diagnosed with ALS than White patients. Societal determinants of health, such as disparities in access to care, may play a role, independent sources said.
This is an important finding, suggested Catherine Lomen-Hoerth, MD, PhD, professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and director of the ALS Center at UCSF Medical Center, who was not involved with the study. “It tells us that there are no inherent differences in the disease process between patients who are Black compared with those who are White, once we account for factors like site of onset and time of disease onset. That has been controversial in the literature previously.”