Three months ago we did a podcast with Randy Curits about his recent diagnosis of ALS in March and what it was like for someone who studies and cares for people living with serious illness, to now be someone who is living with serious illness.  It was one of our favorite podcasts we’ve done, but also got us to think “wait, how come we’ve never done a podcast on ALS?”

We fix that on today’s podcast.  We’ve invited Elizabeth Lindenberger and Kara Bischoff to talk about what every geriatrician and palliative care clinician should know about ALS.   

Topics include: prognosis in ALS, disease modifying therapies (and when/if to discontinue, advance care planning in ALS, the role of embedding geriatrics/palliative care in ALS clinics, interventions in ALS (noninvasive ventilation, PEG tubes, and trachs), and symptom management as the disease progress. 

So take a listen and if you want to take a deeper dive, take a look at these articles:

• Embedded Palliative Care for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Pilot Program and Lessons Learned
• Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis