Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Summary

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.

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.

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

Lou Gehrig’s Disease Thesis: Weakness in the hands, arms, legs or slurred speech. Imagine having these symptoms and not knowing what is wrong. Then the most dreaded words are uttered, “You have Lou Gehrig’s Disease”. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or other wise known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a disease that attacks muscles and brain cells. “ALS was first found in 1869 by French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot,but it wasn’t until 1939 that Lou Gehrig brought national and international attention to the disease” (About).

Some of the symptoms include slurred and nasal speech, difficulty chewing or swallowing, cramping, stiff or tight muscles, or muscle weakness (NINDS:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Fact sheet). The reason that the symptoms are so common to other diseases, causes many people to overlook the possibility of ALS. It’s not until more obvious weaknesses are present that physicians begin to suspect ALS. This basically causes people to be blindsided by the diagnose of this disease and at times it has been reported that people fall into

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a terminal disease, also known as Motor Neurons Disease, Charchot Disease and Lou Gehrig disease. ALS destroys the Central Nervous System (CNS) and causes damage to the upper and lower motor neurons in the brain. Signs and symptoms are characterized as: muscles weakness, muscle atrophy, twitching and reduced muscle reflexes. Eventually the patient will become paralyzed and rely on a tracheostomy and ventilator for breathing (ALS Association [ALSA], 2010).

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.

There are numerous tests that have to be ran including, electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction velocity (NCV), blood and urine studies, thyroid and parathyroid hormone levels, spinal taps, x-rays, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), myelogram of cervical spine, muscle and/or nerve biopsy, and a neurological examination. Even with the results of various tests, there are still 6 other major diseases that are similar to ALS, but most of which are treatable. They include Primary Lateral Sclerosis, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, and Neurological Disorders. The doctors use the given results from each test and the information from the many repeated physical examinations to help with their diagnosis. When each individual "copycat disease" is ruled out, they can diagnose the patient’s condition as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Lou Gehrig, David Niven, George Yardley, Eddie Adams, Dennis Day, Henry A. Wallace, Maxwell Taylor, and Steve Gleason are just some of the many influential people who were personally diagnosed with

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).

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

A recent clinical trial recruited participants early in their ALS progression, with milder symptoms and a larger vital capacity. According to Mitsubishi

This article seeks to define that diseases of the peripheral nerves can also produce symptoms similar to the motor neuron disease such as ALS. "Sensory disturbance due to involvement of the nerve fibres carrying sensory impulses is usually involve." Affected individuals are between ages 50 to 70 years of age and have upper and lower motor neuron weakness. Paralysis progresses rapidly, and death often occurs with three years of diagnosis.

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

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.