ALS: A Case Study

ALS is also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a disease in which the brain, nerves, and spinal cord deteriorate. It attacks every part of the body except the brain. Causing major body malfunction along with muscle weakening. Which includes lack of strength, the ability to move arms, legs and body, eventually you lose the ability to breathe. The average time of life after being diagnosed is two - five years. It was believed to be inherited or maybe an infection. After years of research scientist have found a major

Amyotrophic meaning, “no muscle nourishment” in Greek, lateral meaning where the neurons are in the spinal cord, and sclerosis meaning “scarring.” ALS, often known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” named after the New York Yankee who first brought awareness to the disease in the late 1930’s, is a neurodegenerative disease, which affects the neurons in the brain. The nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that are responsible for sending and receiving motor signals progressively die off, causing the deterioration of simple motor skills in patients with ALS, such as walking, talking, and eventually speaking and breathing, however thinking is not affected by ALS. Early symptoms cause the person to slowly lose mobility of limbs, but in a matter of a few years, the person loses the mobility of most of their body and will eventually lose the ability to eat and breath, which will ultimately cause death. ALS deteriorates the patient's body, however does not affect the patient's state of mind or sanity while the rest of the body shuts down. People usually get ALS between the ages of 40 and 70. However, there is a growing trend where athletes are getting ALS in their thirties. ALS can be contributed to genetic predisposition, which means that the gene that is responsible for ALS is already in the person’s DNA. In recent studies, however, it was observed that individuals who have had suffered multiple concussions or any other head trauma are

Have you ever heard of ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease? For many people, ALS is a disorder that they may not know much about. I never heard of it either until my father was diagnosed with this disease in 2006. Because there is no known cure, it is important to detect this disease early, so that proper treatments and preparation can be done before it’s too late.

Following the diagnosis of ALS the main goal of treatment is focused at relieving the symptoms. The most important matter in managing ALS patients is that they continually sustain the highest amount of movement and activity as possible and remain comfortable while doing so. Although a cure for ALS has not yet been developed, effective treatments do exist to assist the patients in their fight with the disease. Physicians urge the patients to carry on with their everyday lives doing all the activities and physically exerting themselves as they would normally do. But, they also recommend the patients to limit their amount of physical exertion

The ice bucket challenge seemingly drenched the world back in 2014. It involved dumping a bucket full of freezing ice water on oneself in order to bring about awareness for the disease ALS. One would then nominate others to do the challenge as well, whilst giving a monetary donation of their choice to the ALS association for research funds thereafter. The challenge is basically broken down into three steps: accepting the challenge from nomination, uploading a video of the person doing the challenge, and giving a donation on that person 's behalf. Even after the ice bucket challenge craze, many people nationwide are unaware of what the disease is actually about.Informed individuals know that ALS is a life-devastating disease that can immediately turn a person 's life in a completely different direction. This disease can cause immense amounts of heartache on those that are part of the patient’s life, especially on the own patient. A strong, independent, and healthy being can turn into an incapacitated and no longer self- sufficient person in only a matter of few years. Control of the body gradually becomes irretrievable, but the mind is always aware; as a whole, it can be thought of as being mentally imprisoned in a dysfunctional and foreign body, only being able see life pass away like water through their fingers. Given that there is a boundless range of information on the subject in terms of ALS, only so much can be covered to be able to be considered an overview. There are

People first need to know what ALS is. ALS is very difficult to diagnose. So far there is no

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. ALS is also named Lou Gehrig’s disease because he was the first person to bring ALS to a national attention in the 1930’s. Lou Gehrig’s amazing professional baseball career was ended short by this horrific disease. There are multiple treatments for ALS, but no cure for this fatal disease. In 2014, ALS was brought to major attention by the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Although Lou has the disease named after him, there are several other notable individuals who have been diagnosed with ALS. These individuals include Stephen Hawking, Jim Hunter, Steve Gleason, George Yardley

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was when an individual throws a bucket of ice water on his or her head to publicize awareness and raise funds for research on the disease known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (alsa.org/fight-als/ice-bucket-challenge.html). The Oxford English Dictionary defines awareness as “The quality or state of being aware, consciousness; also the condition of being aware (of something or that something is)” (“awareness”). While it is important to some degree to actually have knowledge about the disease and how it affects society, it does not directly assist in the advancement in finding a cure. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge went viral with videos that did help raise awareness of the disease.

Lou Gehrig was not the first person diagnosed with ALS, but he was diagnosed with ALS when the media started to begin and there was television . ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. The disease affects all motor skills and muscle movement in the body which causes the muscles to become malnourished. When diagnosed with ALS, the face, arms, and legs slowly begin to paralyze and lose control of speech. The average time of life after diagnosis is two to five years and the average age to get ALS is fifty-five. However athletes are being diagnosed with ALS at ayounger age. Researchers think it’s probably due to the fact that they get hit in the head more often. ALS is without a doubt the most horrific disease because your brain is perfectly fine and you watch yourself slowly die without being to do anything about

“The doctor who diagnosed me with ALS, or motor neuron disease, told me that it would kill me in two or three years” This is one of the many things that people that are diagnosed have to share. 1874 Jean Martin Charcot first described the devastating effects of ALS. During the gulf war and WWII, ALS became more pervasive. Since then an average of 18,000 people per year contract this disease. Currently, ALS cannot be completely eliminated from one’s body. Als can only be slowed down usually about two to three years. Stephen Hawkings had a miracle that he was still alive after having ALS for an about all of his life. Even though he survived he can’t move his muscles and they had to poke a hole in his throat for him to breathe. Als gives people

The three sources that were provided had a main theme of, what ALS is, how they are working to find a cure, and what it is like to live with ALS. They went into detail about what it does to your body and how it makes others, such as family and friends, feel. The ice bucket challenge played a huge part in research for ALS which developed many more studies at a quick rate. The articles, “Lou Gehrig’s Disease” and “Viral “Ice Bucket Challenge” leads to ALS discovery”, as well as the Nightline video are similar in the overall topic, but different when it comes to what they are trying to explain to the reader.

The ALS ice bucket challenge is one of the most effective fundraisers ever – it has raised over one hundred million dollars for research for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Millions of American’s have participated in this cause, an opportunity to show

In a recent study, “apathy is associated with poor prognosis in ALS” by the European Journal of Neurology, it was discovered that patients with ALS experiencing high levels of apathy tend to have a shorter survival rate. Patients with ALS never lose their cognition but do lose voluntary muscle control. This means that the patient is completely aware of their limitations and losses, which can take an emotional toll on them. In this study 76 patients with ALS were analyzed to determine their levels of apathy. The results proved the hypothesis to be true. Patients who had a high level of apathy died within 21 months, compared to patients with mild apathy who survived for 46 months on average. Patients who demonstrated no apathy had the

Overall, ALS can be described as a destructive, pernicious, devastating, and ruinous disability. It causes scarring of nerve cells in the spinal cord, resulting in muscles no longer working properly and even wasting away (Abramovitz 12). Because of its ability to attack all of the neurons and muscles in the body, ALS creates many limitations. Most patients eventually reach a point where they cannot dress themselves or bathe alone. A caregiver has to help them perform simple tasks like these. Since the muscles in their neck and jaw deteriorate, ALS patients also lose their ability to chew, swallow, and speak (65).

To truly understand the disease ALS athletes should know exactly what it will do to their body. ALS while mysteries in the ways it can affect you one thing is certain, it will slowly harden your body's muscles until the are unuseable. This is happening because the motor neurons are dieing or degeneration at a rapid pace. When these neurons stop the messages they hold no longer make it to the parts it needs stopping muscle movement. Many of these athletes make the information known to the public by making a foundation. Take O.J. Brigance who started the Brigance Brigade Foundation to help those athletes who have ALS and get their message out. He still lifes to this day and was shown a lot in the media when it began to show in 2007. Athletes should be told of these to keep safe and keep playing the way we want and they want.