Updated Review
Published: January 16, 2023
Since our last update, a study was published (Postepy Dermatol Alergol. 2022;39(5):838-844) showing that pterostilbene (one of the 2 ingredients in this product) can favorably affect markers of oxidative stress in animal models of different non-neurological diseases. We thus change our "Mechanisms" grade from D to C.
Updated Review
Published: October 5, 2020
Since our previous review, we found 3 PALS on PatientsLikeMe who reported taking Basis with "unknown" effectiveness. One of our review team had several PALS under his care taking Basis with no apparent benefit. Thus we change our "cases" grade "U" to "F." We found a 32-patient, 4-month trial of a compound called EH301 which has the same ingredients as Basis, though the absolute amount of each ingredient is unclear (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration 2019;20:115-122). This trial concluded that EH301 was safe and associated with improvements in several clinical measurements of ALS. Unfortunately, the trial had many significant flaws which limit our confidence in its conclusions (https://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/small-trial-eh301-appears-halt-progression-als). As a result of this trial, we change our "trials" grade from "U" to "D." We change the last sentence of our conclusion to: "We hope to see the company that owns Basis and EH301 clarify what the differences in these products are, and we hope to see a more rigorous trial of EH301 in the near future."
Key Information
Click on any letter grade below for more info:
Mechanism Grade: C
Preclinical Trials Grade: U
Cases Grade: U
Trials Grade: D
Risks Grade: C
Published: Sep 2017
Basis has mechanisms of action that could theoretically be useful in treating ALS. It appeared reasonably safe in a small, short duration study of healthy volunteers and it is fairly inexpensive. However, we found no data in preclinical ALS models, no case reports, and no trials in PALS. Based on this lack of data, ALSUntangled cannot currently recommend use of Basis to slow, stop, or reverse the progression of ALS.
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