As per reports, it has been revealed that world renowned researcher Dr. Richard Olney, 64, lost his life after fighting the Lou Gehrig's disease for eight long years. Olney dedicated his life to find the cure of Lou Gehrig's disease, but himself lost the battle of life on Friday at his Marin County home.

Lou Gehrig's disease is also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). It is one such disease in which patients suffering from it lose control over their muscles. In order to find a cure for the disease, Olney launched the UC San Francisco ALS Center.

His deteriorating condition did not allowed him to carry on leading the centre. Henceforth in 2004, he resigned from the place and Dr. Catherine Lomen-Hoerth was made the head of the centre. Hoerth said that Olney was quite brave. He was the first human subject to test the drug which he has made to treat the disease.

Being true to his profession, he never asked or tried to investigate about the type of drug being given to him during the trial. He never tried to breach medical guidelines to know whether he was receiving placebo or actual drug, said Hoerth.

It however has been revealed now that he was in the group of actual drug takers. Hoerth said that but that does not means that drug is not effective. Oliver took part in the trial when it was being tested that the drug is safe for use or not, and not to check its efficacy.

Hoerth said that it is also possible that the drug might have helped. But, nothing in surety could be said. He further said, “Early-stage clinical trials like this involve low doses that are designed to test drug safety, as opposed to efficacy”.