Als : Short For Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

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.

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.

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

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

ALS is usually described as a neurological disorder that weakens your muscles. In other words, your nerve cells begin to die and you lose voluntary muscle control. It affects every person differently, but it most commonly appears in your upper core

ALS, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a disease that attacks the muscles and impacts a person’s physical function. Overtime, the symptoms will

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

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurological disorder that involves the degeneration of motor neurons. Commonly, ALS is referred to as “Lou Grieg’s disease” after the New York Yankee Hall-of-Famer, who was diagnosed with the disease in 1939 (mayo Clinic, 2010). According to the national institute of neurological disorders, ALS is a rapidly developing, consistently progressive, invariably fatal neurological disease that’s attacking the nerve cells needed for controlling voluntary muscles, or movement.” (NINDS, 2010). The muscles go through atrophy, which means the muscles gradually weaken and wasting away. Furthermore, ALS affects the neuromuscular system, which “enables our bodies to move

It's a brave question because the answers are not very pleasant." When an individual is diagnosed with ALS, they begin a totally new way of life. Surprising, in many cases it can often be difficult to diagnose someone with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. However, with a history of their problems and a few other tools, it is possible. One of the most common ways to diagnose someone with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is by looking at their complications. Some of the most common early signs of ALS are a patient's legs may seem to be heavier than normal or

ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease. The nerve cells of the brain and spinal cord stop functioning properly, leading to malnourished muscles, muscle atrophy, loss of motor function, and eventually death (ALS Association, 2016). ALS stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which basically means “no muscle nourishment” in the lateral aspects of the spine where some nerve cells that control the muscles are located (ALS Association, 2016).

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as ALS or sometimes called Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a progressive neurological disease affecting the nerves that control voluntary muscle movement. It is the most common type of motor neuron disease. The body isn’t able to operate as it normally does due to the muscles weakening overtime. As the disease progresses, it starts to damage nerves of other vital areas of the body. When the body isn’t able to breath the way it should causing respiratory failure and other things start to go wrong, the body has no choice, but to shut down and die. (ALS Association)

A distinctive characteristic of ALS is that although the motor neurons die, the brain, cognitive functions and sensory neurons stay intact (Porth & Matfin, 2009). This makes the disease especially devastating because patients become trapped inside their dying body, with a fully alert mind, but are unable to move. It is not known what causes the exact death of the motor neurons in the body, but “five percent to 10% of cases are familial; the others are believed to be sporadic” (Porth & Matfin, 2009, p.