What is ALS? ALS stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, it is also known to be Lou Gehrig’s and Charcot disease. ALS is a motor neuron disease, in this case ALS is a disorder that will involve the neurons cells to die. It is a result that in the death of the motor neurons control the voluntary muscles. Based upon what the patient’s symptoms and signs with testing will rule out any other potential causes. There is no cure for this disease, it is just a waiting process. Medicine that is call riluzole can however extent the life expand only by two to three months. The risks factors are a five out of ten percent that a person with ALS inherited by their father or their mother, most cases ALS is not inherited. In about ninety percent of cases
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
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.
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
“ Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), sometimes called Lou Gehrig's disease, is a rapidly progressive, invariably fatal neurological disease that attacks the nerve cells (neurons) responsible for controlling voluntary muscles (muscle action we are able to control, such as those in the arms, legs, and face).” By what A.L.S association.org says. A neurological disease is a disease that affects the brain and gives it many diseases like brain tumors, epilepsy, and, Parkinson's. “A.L.S is a neurological disease that weakens the muscles to where you can barely move or speak” said alsa.org. You can only live up to two to five years with als. A.L.S is a very rare disease every 100,000 people get it. By what alsa.org said. That means 73,571 people has it in the Whole world right now. Als is a very rare
He said he cannot take care of his wife and his 14-year-old son, who is having a really hard time with understanding that his family needs his help right now. My uncle also said that ALS has taught him a lot about himself and about other people. He said that losing his independence to be able to help himself and his family is absolutely heart breaking. ALS would be considered a negative mutation, because it shortens your life span by quite a bit with an average life expectancy of two to five years from the time of
This is why the Ice bucket challenge was invented. The ALS disease is an incurable cancer that many scientists don’t know what causes it. Some doctors think it is caused by a defective gene that prevents the body from producing a normal amount of an enzyme called superoxide dismutase.
The causes of getting ALS are getting multiple hits to the head, may not be all at once. It can cause serious problems that affects the daily life, for example hard to walk, speak, swallow, and breathe. People are being diagnosed with ALS at the ages of 40-70 with an average of 55 years. New studies state that athletes are being diagnosed at a younger age do to getting multiple hits to the head related to being in sports. After being diagnosed your life expectancy is 3-5 years, however it can increase with therapies and riluzole which is a drug and is very expensive. The disease isn't cured, it just slows down the disease. A well known person who had ALS is Lou Gehrig, he was a baseball player for the New York Yankees and was in the Hall of Fame in 1939. Started showing symptoms of ALS in 1938 and died on June 2nd
There are 20,000 new cases of ALS diagnosed each year in the United States. This yields an incidence of 3 per 100,000 (Brown, 2006). There is no known cause for ALS in 95% of patients; however, 5% have an identifiable genetic mutation (Elman, 2016). The disease can present in individuals less than 30 years of age, but peaks between 40 and 60 years of age. Before the age of 65, more diagnoses are made in men; after the age of 65, gender incidence is equal. There is no clear-cut ethnic or racial predisposition in ALS (Ricks, 2016). The lifespan is approximately 3-4 years after diagnosis. However, in 10 % of
ALS stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, it is also called Lou Gehrig’s Disease. This disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that causes muscle weakness, paralysis, and ultimately, respiratory failure. This disease has a lot of awareness from the world. Lots of people donate money , and have also done the ALS ice water bucket challenge.
Over time, ALS tends to lead to almost total paralysis of the muscle movements, and then it eventually leads to respiratory failure. The cause of ALS is unknown; however, genetics may play a role. If you have family members with ALS, have been in the military, or have certain genetic
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke have identified over 12 genetic mutations as the cause in some familial cases of ALS. The research on ALS is continually resulting in new factors that may be the cause of ALS, including environmental factors and even possibly a “genetic predisposition”. (www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/amyotrophiclateralsclerosis/detail_ALS.htm) Personally speaking, when I told my mom about the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, she told me that ALS was what my great grandma had died from. I had known that my great grandma had died from some disease, but I didn’t know that it was ALS. Unfortunately for my great grandma and the others suffering from ALS, there has not been a cure found yet for ALS. There is one FDA approved drug for ALS called riluzole (Rilutek). Riluzole helps to reduce the damage to the nerves that are being attacked by the disease. While Riluzole can’t reverse the damage that has already been done to the nerves and muscles, it can extend the amount of time before the person needs respiratory support and help with difficulty
the U.S. today. One in 50,000 people will be affected in any one year. The
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s disease is a disease that affects your motor neurons in your spinal cord and brainstem. The decline of your upper neurons causes your muscles to tighten and the diminishment of your lower neurons causes your muscles to shrink down in size. When the neurons die, your brain no loses the ability to control your voluntary muscles like eating, speaking, moving, and eventually breathing. Most people diagnosed with ALS live up to 3-5 years after the diagnosis. Individuals between the ages of 40 and 70 are more likely to have this disease and nearly 6,000 people are diagnosed with the disease every year. There are two different forms of ALS, familial and sporadic. Familial
ALS is a rapidly progressive neurological disease, which attacks the motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. The motor neurons that are responsible for controlling the movement of muscles begin to degenerate over time. As the disease continues to progress, the motor neurons will ultimately die, and the brain will be unable to initiate or control muscle movement. This will eventually lead to the inability of controlling voluntary movements of the arms, legs, and face. Someone affected by ALS may notice many different symptoms caused by the disease that prevents routine functions.