Causes include gene mutation and will cause problems with your immune system. Your nerve cells are dying causing you to become weaker. At the chemical level gene mutation is the most common. ALS is a disease affecting the brain and nervous system, by sending signals to the spinal cord and nerves throughout the body. Weakness in your hands, arms, feet, legs or the muscles of speech are symptoms. You may experience tripping, dropping things, slurred speech, muscle cramps and twitching uncontrollably. Other symptoms include outbreaks of crying, laughing and difficulty with daily life activities. Diagnosing ALS is hard, because they symptoms are overlooked as a normal thing. 55 years old is the average age to have ALS.
ALS Association. "ALS." ALS Affects. The ALS Association. 24 Oct. 2014. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.
Multiple people say they created the Ice bucket challenge but one was about a teenager who slide into home base while playing baseball he went to the doctor and the doctors found out he had ALS. His parents were shocked, ALS is one of not very many incurable diseases. His mother wanted to raise awareness starting the challenge. The Ice Bucket Challenge helps people with ALS, anyone can do the Ice bucket challenge and the movement is to raise awareness.
Typically, the muscle weakness will affect a limb, and nasal or slurred speech will soon develop. If the patient is limb onset ALS, the symptoms will first occur in the arms and legs. They may have difficulty with dexterous tasks such as writing or opening a door. If the lower limbs are affected, they may notice trouble walking and experience tripping or stumbling. Dropped foot, as demonstrated in the above case study, can also develop from muscle weakness and can cause the individual to drag his or her foot. Limb onset ALS is more typical than all other types, occurring in about 75% of diagnosed individuals.
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
It affects the motor neuron from the brain to the spinal cord then spreads to all the muscles in the body. You will not be able to simply reach for a smartphone or pick up trash off the floor because your muscles do not function the same and may not function at all. If you acquire ALS you could have full body paralysis. There are two types of ALS out there. There is familial and then there is sporadic. Familial is the type of ALS that can be inherited and passed down by parents or grandparents. But this only happens about 5-10% in the United States. It can almost happen to anyone out there. There is a 50% chance that it can be passed down but it does not always come into effect. Then there is sporadic ALS. You get this by seriously injuring your head or maybe even just a slight hit and it was just right to cause it. This is the more likely type you would get. In the United States you they are 90-95% chance of getting due to a brain traumatic injury. ALS can cause problems to your speech. It could make you have vocal cord spasms and impaired voice. It can cause difficulty of swallowing and can make you drool. You could have substantial weight loss, problems breathing, and it is hard to do everyday things depending on how severe your diagnoses is. It is normally in people ages between 40-70’s. It has a 100% fatality rate and the numbers in the US fluctuate year to year but usually makes it up to about 20,000 people could get it at any time but NFL players and military are more likely to get it because of the brain trauma they have been
ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) or Lou Gehrig’s Disease is a classified as a degenerative neurological disorder that inhibits motor neurons in the spinal cord and brain to function properly. This disease eventually results in paralysis and imminent death over a period of time. ALS patients have anywhere from a few months, to a couple years to live after diagnosis since their nervous systems are slowly destroyed, rendering the body useless, and sustaining life impossible.
In addition, people need to know the symptoms of ALS. In ALS, there is deterioration to a point that all movement, including breathing, stops. Muscle weakness first develops in the muscles, such as the hands, and spreads through other muscles closer to the brain. Such early symptoms as this can hardly be noticed. Early symptoms of ALS are very slight and often overlooked. They begin as simple things such as tripping or dropping things. Twitching or cramping of muscles and fatigue of the arms and legs may soon follow causing difficulty in daily activities such as walking or dressing (ALS Association). In more advanced stages shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing and swallowing show until the body is completely taken over by the disease. Intellect, eye motion, bladder function, and sensation are the only abilities left unharmed by the disease. There are many symptoms for ALS and if any of these symptoms are noticed, that person could have ALS.
The word “Amyotrophic” comes from the Greek language meaning “no nourishment”. ALS causes muscle weakness, problems with coordination, stiff muscles, loss of muscles, muscle spasms, over reactive reflexes, and fatigue. The symptoms of ALS increase rapidly, which makes an individual lose control of the muscles and begin having slurred speech. The arms and legs begin to feel weak and tired unexpectedly, while also experiencing cramps. When a medical professional diagnose someone with ALS they have about 2-5 years to live on average. Although about 10% of people with ALS live up to 10 years with the disease, while 25% live up to 5 years and 50% live up to 3 years. The average age that an individual is diagnosed with ALS is 55, but varies from the ages of
Mental health is a fragile thing and terminal conditions such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) greatly impact it. ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that attacks a person’s physical function. It progressively saps a person’s strength and leads to the failure of organs. Unfortunately, this disease is not fully understood and is difficult to diagnose (Rosenfeld & Strong, 2015, pp. 318-319). Knowing fully well that this disease is a death sentence, ALS patients generally have a negative outlook and this significantly influences their mental health. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis can be diagnosed mainly through the medical perspective and has been extensively researched to determine the components and controversies it contains.
The manifestations of ALS are caused by the location of motor neuron death. When upper motor neurons die, the symptoms include problems controlling fine movements, spasms, dysphagia, dysphonia and dysarthria (Porth & Matfin, 2009). “Manifestations of lower motor neuron destruction include fasciculations, weakness, muscle atrophy, and hyporeflexia” (Porth & Matfin, 2009, p. 1284). Patients with early signs of ALS usually complain of feeling weak on one side, which is due to the slowing of electrical impulses to that group of muscles (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2010). Since the impulses are slowed, they are not receiving adequate electrical stimulation to move and the person feels weak. As the disease progresses, all the motor neurons die and are not regenerated so, the patient is left paralyzed, losing the ability to speak, swallow and breathe (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2010).
There are few moments in life seared into your memory so vividly that you can recall the details of that event, even years later. One of those days, for me, was May 29th, 2010. I remember where I was when I got the phone call and who was in the room with me. I remember the clock read 6:57 p.m. For some strange reason, I remember what I was wearing. I also remember that this was the moment my mother told me she had been diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Chemical imbalance. People with ALS generally have higher than normal levels of glutamate, too much glutamate is known to be toxic to some nerve cells.
In order to recognize ALS, there are various signs and symptoms to look out for. The classic presentation of ALS is insidious, progressive, asymptomatic muscular weakness and atrophy along with neurologic signs, particularly hyper-reflexia. The precise signs and symptoms of ALS depend on the area of the nervous system that is damaged. Patients with upper limb onset may first notice difficulty in actions such as, buttoning cloths, picking up small objects or turning keys. Those with lower limb onset may complain of stumbling, tripping, foot drop, or awkward when walking or running. Speech problems, such as slurring, hoarseness or decreased volume, are most common presentations in the bulbar form of ALS. Subsequently, spreading paralysis of the
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
A. Although this disease can strike anyone, it is extremely rare in kids. According to the ALS Association, most people who develop Lou Gehrig's disease are adults between 40 and 70, but younger and or older people can develop this disease. People of all races and ethnic backgrounds are affected. ALS is a