Thank you for your question, because it is very important.
When I was putting my presentation together I asked ALS Society of Canada how they got their research funds. Every dollar comes from donors. That is so frustrating, because they in turn fund Dr. Zinman at Sunnybrook. So donor dollars that are going to ALS Canada quite often finish up at Sunnybrook for their research.
It's been my experience, since I became actively involved in raising awareness, that the message is getting out there. Sadly, there appear to be more cases of ALS appearing on a regular basis. Unfortunately, due to the short lifespan these clients seem to become very isolated, and a lot of times friends will disappear. I'm glad that the other presenters mentioned the depression aspect, because there becomes a sense of unworthiness when you're not able to do normal tasks. That's why I cannot emphasize enough that dollars are required. As much as the national brain study is looking at the overall brain per se, for ALS it needs to identify that naughty gene that is breaking down the motor neurons and give us ALS clients some sense of hope that we are moving towards finding a cure.