A drug being developed by scientists in Japan to treat Alzheimer's is also effective against the neurodegenerative ALS disease, according to the latest discovery.

Takeo Kato, chief of the Yamagata National Hospital's amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) treatment research center, said the new medicine will work on protein accumulated in the brain and spinal cord to be first of its kind, Kyodo News reported.

The drug is being developed in northeastern Japan's state-run Yamagata University, the report said.

The fatal ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control. It is named after American baseball player Lou Gehrig who was diagnosed with the disease.

Those afflicted with ALS lose their ability to walk, talk, eat and finally breathe as the disease kills motor neurons, causing muscles to weaken and eventually paralyze.

Japanese scientists conducted successful tests on mice to curb the aggregation of proteins with lab-grown ALS.

The report said the experiment was conducted on mice with inherited ALS, a less common type, and researchers will now work mice with more common non-familial ALS.

The clinical trials involving humans are expected to begin in 2024.

Japan has nearly 10,000 people suffering from ALS while between 1,000 to 2,000 people are diagnosed with the disease every year.

Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia, is thought to be caused by deposits of a protein fragment called beta-amyloid and twisted fibers of another protein called tau in the brain, according to the Alzheimer's Association./aa