Lou Gehrig's Disease

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.

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

ALS was also called Lou Gehrig disease. The reason why it was called the Lou Gehrig diseases is because he was a famous MLB baseball player that was diagnosed with ALS and later on died from it. Lou Gehrig was born in New York City, on June 19, 1903. Lou devoted his whole life in Baseball and his family. Later on Lou was having a hard time tying his shoes and had a feeling that this can be his end of his career. In 1939, The doctor had a bad news for him which was that he was diagnosed with ALS.

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

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.

In early 1939, Lou Gehrig, one of the greatest New York Yankee baseball players ever, took himself out of a ballgame after playing in a record setting 2,130 consecutive games. He was noted by his teammates to drag his feet in the field, struggle with routine plays, and his batting average had plummeted. After baffling with many local physicians, he arrived at the Mayo Clinic where he was diagnosed with a “rare disease” – amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Mitsumoto, 2001). Today ALS is no longer considered rare and is widely recognized as a relentless and devastating neurodegenerative disease. In recent years the media has covered ALS to promote awareness and support ongoing research to enhance diagnosis, treatment, and quality of life. Unfortunately, the disease is incurable and treatment options are currently limited.

“A-myo-trophic comes from the Greek language ‘A’ meaning no or negative. ‘Myo’ refers to muscle, and “Trophic” means nourishment-’No muscle nourishment’... ‘Lateral’ identifies the areas in a person's spinal cord where portions of the nerve cells that signal and control the muscles are located.” (“What is ALS?”). Literally, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis means no muscle nourishment in the spine. In this disease, nerve cells in both the brain and spinal cord slowly die over a period of time. The cells, referred to as motor neurons, control the muscles throughout the body, resulting in death or paralyzation as they degenerate. At any given time, ALS can strike anyone. It is not contagious, however, in about 10% of cases, ALS runs in the family making it somewhat hereditary (“What is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis?”). “The incidence of ALS is two per 100,000 people” (“Facts You Should Know). Most of the time, Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS), acts on middle-aged and older adults, however there have been noted cases of patients much younger. Considering that a friend or family member can be diagnosed with this horrible disease, everyone should pitch into ALS charities in hope to find a

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease is a very progressive chronic disease. Lou Gehrig’s disease is named after a famous baseball player who developed the disease in 1939 as noted by New York State (2012). Lou Gehrig’s disease is a chronic disease that breaks down the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The brain and spinal cord control the muscles throughout the body and if they are being destroyed the muscles will not move or work properly. According to New York State (2012), the disease is most common in people between the ages of 40-70, and as many as thirty thousand Americans suffer from the disease at any given time.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, otherwise known as ALS or Lou Gherig’s disease, is a neurological disease which attacks nerve cells causing them to die and leave the muscles paralyzed. People with ALS lose strength and control of muscles, weakening them and causing them to start to wear away. Eventually the muscles stop working all together and cause paralysis in places such as arms, legs and other parts of the body. When the nerve cells in the diaphragm and chest wall are attacked and the muscles are paralyzed, the person can lose the ability to breathe without assistance, or sometimes at all. Respiratory failure is the cause of death for most people with ALS. Currently there are approximately 2500-3000 Canadians that are living with ALS and according to www.als.ca “Every day two or three Canadians die of the

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a neurodegenerative autoimmune disease. This means that the neurons ( nerve cells of the brain and spinal cord), particularly the ones that control voluntary muscles (motor neurons), degenerate and die. Naturally, motor neurons in the brain send signals to the motor neurons in the spinal cord, which in turn, sends signals to the muscles. However, the degeneration and death of these neurons (upper and lower motor neurons) doesn’t allow the body to transmit signals to permit the movement of muscles. This eventually causes the weakening of the muscles, and the brain’s loss of controlling voluntary muscle movement. By this, people lose their ability to speak, walk, and breathe.

ALS stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and is also referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease. After this disease is contracted, it weakens skeletal muscles and the body is eventually paralyzed. In some cases, ALS affects the limbs first, causing difficulty to move. Due to being a progressive condition, patients will suffer from many different symptoms as time goes by. After being diagnosed, only about fifty percent of patients live for at least two more years (Facts You Should Know 2010). Moreover, about twenty percent live five years after being diagnosed and only ten percent of people can expect to live for over ten years after the diagnosis (NINDS 2013). This being said, ALS is typically very rare. Approximately two out of one hundred

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord (Plowman, 2015, p.1151). The motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles in the body. When ALS is in a degenerate stage, this causes paralyzation and loss of muscle control, which can lead to one’s death. The ALS Association is a national nonprofit organization that is dedicated to fighting Lou Gehrig’s disease by providing support and information to those that have this disease, as well as spreading awareness effective for change. The ALS Association aims to discover new treatment for those living with Lou Gehrig’s disease, while actively seeking a cure

Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an active neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord, and is also 100% fatal (ALS association, 2017). Henry Louis “Buster Gehrig was an American hall of fame baseball player with the New York Yankees from 1923 through 1939. At the Mayo Clinic in the 1930’s, doctors diagnosed him with ALS, now called Lou Gehrig’s disease. Every day, on average, 15 people are newly diagnosed with ALS, more than 5,600 people per year. ALS disturbs motor neurons, these motor neurons are nerve cells that control muscle movement and are found in the spinal cord and the brain. This specific disease affects the ability of nerves and muscles to function properly. The first symptoms of ALS can be extremely subtle, and roughly 20% of individuals with this disease also progress FTD (frontotemporal degeneration) which could alter their personality and also their emotions. Since Lou Gehrig’s disease can be so harmful, treatments cannot reverse the damage that has been done. Currently, there has been two medications that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of Lou Gehrig’s disease. The two medications include, Riluzole and Edaravone. Riluzole slows the development of the disease in some people decreasing the levels of the chemical messenger in the brain. And Edaravone is shown to decrease the decline of everyday function related to ALS.

There are many known diseases in the world that we live in today affecting a wide range of individuals of different ages, ethnicities, and genders. With each type of disease comes a diagnosis, prognosis, and potential for a cure from one of life’s many ailments. Over the course of time, technology has began to lead the way in discovering as well as treating many disease in which doctors previously knew little about. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, was first described in 1869 by French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. In 1939 ALS brought international attention when Lou Gehrig abruptly retired from baseball after being diagnosed with the disease(6).

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis – also referred to as Motor Neurone Disease in most Commonwealth countries, and as Lou Gehrig's disease in the United States– is a debilitating disease with varied etiology characterized by rapidly progressive weakness, muscle atrophy and fasciculations which is a spontaneous contraction affecting small number of muscle fiber. This is often referred “Lou Gehrig’s disease”. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, is a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement. Muscle cramps and muscle twitching all happens when people have ALS disease. First it damages the spinal cord pathway and through the motor neurons, bodies to move and is made up of the brain, nerve, and muscle. The things that we do every day like running all of that is controlled by the neuromuscular system. By the time that passes by the ALS disease causes these motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord to shrink and goes away, so muscle no longer receive signals to move. The result of this is that the muscle becomes smaller and weaker. About 2 out of 100,000 people will get Lou Gehrig’s disease. 5 out of 10% ALS cases in the United State are in Hereditary, means the disease runs through a certain families. At least 90% of cases are not inherited, this disease is called the Sporadic ALS disease.