Oklahoma researcher receives MDA grant


OKLAHOMA CITY An Oklahoma medical researcher has received a grant to study whether the active ingredient in a common over-the-counter headache remedy can slow the disorder known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Kenneth Hensley is an Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientist whose research concentrates on inflammation among the brain's neurons. He received the 158-thousand dollar grant from the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Hensley will study whether acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, protects motor neurons against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or A-L-S. That's the disorder that killed Yankees baseball legend Gehrig.

Hensley will use acetaminophen to treat mice bred to exhibit a condition similar to ALS. Should it prove successful, the research could expand to human trials.

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