Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Essay

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

Once these symptoms are apparent enough, a clinical diagnosis is the next step of action. There is no one definitive test or procedure to this date to distinguish a clear, formal diagnosis of the disease, making the task nearly impossible. There are many other diseases with some of the same symptoms as ALS, making it that much harder to make a reliable decision on the matter. A series of tests can be done to rule out other diseases from the question, eventually leaving ALS as the only logical diagnosis. Some of the diagnostic exams include a spinal tap, x-rays, including an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), myelogram of cervical spine, muscle and nerve biopsies, and an overall thorough neurological inspection.

The article titled “The Voices of A.L.S. by Tara Parker-Pope has given me a better insight into A.L.S. In fact, it has made me more aware of it. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, affects parts of the nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement. Motor neurons, among the largest of all nerve cells, reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to muscles throughout the body. When these motor neurons die, the brain can no longer start and control muscle movement. At this time there is no cure for the disease; however, over the past few decades, we have made amazing strides in our understanding of the brain, the nervous system, and genetics. Discoveries in each of these areas bring

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 two different forms are Sporadic and Familial. The Sporadic ALS makes up approximately 90 to 95 percent of the people who have this disease in the US. The other 5 to 10 percent cases of ALS in the US are made up by Familial ALS. When someone is diagnosed with Familial ALS it means that they inherited it.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a terminal disease that degenerates the nerves in the brain and spinal cord. Motor neurons run from the brain, through the spinal cord, and into the muscles of person; this is what allows a person to have control over voluntary movement. When an individual is diagnosed with ALS, their motor neurons begin to degenerate, thus eradicating their ability to walk, eat, and eventually breathe.

Imagine you are a 78-year-old man, a beloved professor from Brandeis University. Every day you take notice of the increased difficulty of breathing, more so than the usual, or the out-of-breath feeling from climbing a flight of stairs. About two or three weeks later, you start to feel the muscles in your body cramping up, even while partaking in slight activity, And then you know it’s serious after you gave up dancing. After multiple testing, your results come back and you have ALS, also known as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

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, better known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, is considered as a complex genetic disorder, in which multiple hereditary and environmental factors combine to cause this disease. This is seen as an illness of parts of the nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement. In ALS, the motor neurons (nerve cells that control muscle cells) are gradually lost. When these motor neurons turn out to be lost, the muscles they control become weak and ultimately nonfunctional. We see that “amyotrophic” is rooted in Greek origin meaning without nourishment to muscles and refers to the loss of signals nerve cells normally send to muscle cells. “Lateral” simply means to the side and refers to the location of the damage in the spinal cord. “Sclerosis” means hardened and refers to the toughened nature of the spinal cord in advanced ALS. This progressive neurodegenerative disease, that was first discovered 150 years ago, is associated with a life expectancy of approximately three years after symptom onset. In the United States, ALS is also known as Lou Gherig’s Disease, named after the Yankees Baseball player who passed away because of it in 1941. In the United Kingdom and other parts of the world, it’s often referred to as motor neuron disease in reference to the cells that are lost in the disorder (ALS Association, 2015).

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease affecting both the upper and lower motor neurons in the cerebral cortex, brainstem, and spinal cord. It is the most common motor neuron disease in the adult population with a prevalence of two to seven cases per 100,000 individuals. Survival rates in persons with ALS show considerable variation. Five-year survival rates vary from 7% to 40%, whereas 10-year survival rates range from 8% to 16% (cite).

Imagine you are a 78-year-old man. A beloved professor from Brandeis University. Day by day, take notice of the increased difficulty of breathing, more so than the usual out-of-breath feeling from climbing a flight of stairs. About two or three weeks later, you start to feel muscles in your body cramping up, even while partaking in slight activity. After various testing, your results come back you have ALS, short for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Some people will experience a tough time holding a pencil or others will notice a difference in pitch with their voice. Some other symptoms include difficulty swallowing and talking and moving your hands, arms, or legs. Since these symptoms vary with people, not everyone will experience these, but one experience that is similar to all of them is that they will all get progressive muscle weakness and start to become paralyzed. In order to diagnose ALS, it is not possible to be sure if one test. Since this is a tough disease to diagnose, it requires to be tested with a few different tests in order to verify that someone has ALS. Some tests include, Electrodiagnostic tests including electromyography and nerve conduction, blood and urine to test for high resolution serum protein electrophoresis, thyroid hormone, and parathyroid hormone levels, spinal tap, X-rays/MRI, myelogram, muscle/nerve biopsy, and a neurological

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease is a neurological disease that proves fatal for anyone diagnosed with it. Although this disease is not commonly heard of or most often diagnosed, numerous people a year (mainly those in their middle-age or older age generations) succumb to this terminal disease. This disease is progressive, meaning it continues to worsen with age, limiting one’s lifespan with only a certain number of years left to live. By definition, Lou Gehrig's disease is a rare neurological disease that attacks the motor neurons, thus affecting one’s ability to produce movements such as chewing, walking and talking (“Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis,” 2018). Although Lou Gehrig's disease is more prominent in the older-aged

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.