Researchers Test Modafinil for ALS-Related Fatigue

Investigators at the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig MDA/ALS Center at Columbia University in New York are conducting a trial of modafinil (Provigil) to see whether it relieves fatigue associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The Food and Drug Administration has approved this medication to treat daytime sleepiness in a neurological condition called narcolepsy.

This four-week study will include 30 people with ALS and will have a treatment and a placebo group. Participants must have significant fatigue, be able to communicate and to swallow capsules, be able to make required visits to the study site in New York, and meet other criteria.

Contact Judith Rabkin at (212) 543-5762 or jgr1@columbia.edu; or Martin McElhiney at (212) 543-5331 or mcelhin@pi.cpmc.columbia.edu.