Lou Gehrig's Disease 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

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.

An individual diagnosed with a terminal illness has one major battle to fight. Families of terminally ill patients suffer significant effects related to an illness, forcing some households to have large debts and making them unable to afford food and other necessaries. One specific terminal illness is called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. ALS is a disease affecting the human nervous system like the brain, muscles, and spinal cord. It is a deadly disease that cripples and kills its victims. ALS is a terminal illness that is characterized by specific symtoms and has treatments.

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

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

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.

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

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig Disease, it's a disease that affect the neurons in the brain and its ability to communicate with other neurons leading to complications to the spinal cord. This disease affects the victim in various ways it's a progressive disease meaning it starts off slowly

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

Based on U.S population studies, a little over 5,600 people are diagnosed each year with ALS, it’s estimated that 30,000 people struggle with this disease in total. Most people who develop the disease are between the ages of 40 and 70, with the average being around 55.However, cases have occurred in people who are in their thirties and even their twenties. Generally though, ALS occurs in greater percentages of men as opposed to women. Men are 20% more likely to be affected than women, however as they grow older the percentage gap decreases and almost becomes equal(MDA, 2015)

Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a fairly common disease in America, as nearly 4,600 people are diagnosed with the disease annually and someone is diagnosed every 90 minutes. The majority of people that have been diagnosed with ALS are middle to older aged caucasian men in between their 40’s and their 70’s, yet the diagnostic is not exclusive to any race, color, or age. “Over a period of months or years, patients with ALS develop severe, progressive muscular weakness and other symptoms caused by loss of function in both upper and lower motor neurons. Sphincter control, sensory function, intellectual abilities and skin integrity are preserved.” (Walling, 2013, pg. 1) This is a very crippling disease that can be transmitted in many different ways. The different types of Lou Gehrig 's disease: Sporadic, Familial, and Guamanian. Sporadic, which is the most common type of ALS, is the kind that has been sporadically obtain, meaning, it was not genetically passed down from generation to generation. Unlike Sporadic ALS, Familial ALS is given to future generations through genetics and by family members that have Lou Gehrig 's disease. The disease is typically passed through the genes of males, there has been very few time that the genes were passed to a female. The third type of ALS is an extremely high incidence of ALS was observed in Guam and the Trust Territories of the Pacific in the 1950 's. ALS is said to be both a genetic and environmental