The Clinic for Neurology at the Clinical Hospital Centre in Rijeka opened an internationally recognised ALS centre, reports Novi list on 3 June, 2017. The centre is aimed at patients suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS is a neurological disease that leads to muscle paralysis, physical disability and death, and it’s one of the most prevailing motor disorders. It manifests in deterioration of the lower and the upper motor neurons, leading to progressive muscle atrophy.
The centre in Rijeka is the first ALS institution to open in Croatia and an active part of ENCALS, the European Network for the Cure of ALS. The opening of the centre also has Rijeka collaborating with other European ENCALS centres, implying a substantial improvement in care and treatment of patients suffering from this severe condition.
According to head of the Clinic for Neurology Vladimira Vuletić M.D., the neurologists in Rijeka aim to recognise the early simptoms of ALS. They provide patients with comprehensive care throughout the course of the disease and offer support to the patients and their families. “The complete care for such patients is multidisciplinary, and includes pulmonologists, gastroenterologists, physicians, psychologists, palliative care doctors, ALS nurses and speech therapists.” said Vuletić.
Even though everyone can develop ALS, it mostly affects the middle-aged population. One or two people in one hundred thousand suffer from this rare non-treatable disease, and the cause is still unknown.
