A two-year study of the growth hormone known as insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) on patients suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’ disease, found no benefit for these people.

ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. The degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to death. When the neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost, resulting in paralysis. The disease was named after the baseball player, Lou Gehrig who played for the New York Yankees and died in 1941 because of it. The disease affects between 1 and 2 people in 100,000 and there is no known treatment for it. According to the ALS Association, about 5,600 people in the United States are diagnosed with ALS each year.

The study involved 330 patients from 20 medical centers throughout the US. It was designed to be the definitive test of IGF-1 also known as Myotrophin, by Cephalon Inc.

Half of them were given injections twice a day of the growth hormone while the other half got similar injections of a placebo.

At the end of the study, those given IGF-1 did no better in terms of muscle strength, daily functioning or survival.

“We found that the drug doesn’t work. We are disappointed that we were unable to confirm the benefits that were seen in the North American study. We need more effective ALS treatments,” Dr. Eric Sorenson of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues wrote in the Nov. 25 issue of the journal Neurology.