The Impact Of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Following the diagnosis of ALS the main goal of treatment is focused at relieving the symptoms. The most important matter in managing ALS patients is that they continually sustain the highest amount of movement and activity as possible and remain comfortable while doing so. Although a cure for ALS has not yet been developed, effective treatments do exist to assist the patients in their fight with the disease. Physicians urge the patients to carry on with their everyday lives doing all the activities and physically exerting themselves as they would normally do. But, they also recommend the patients to limit their amount of physical exertion

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) 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) is a disease that attacks the nervous system causing paralysis to the patient’s body. The victim’s intellect, emotions, and memories lie unharmed by the disease causing emotional discomfort. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a disease that attacks the mind, affects memories and emotions. It can lead to diseases such as Dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's. These are just a few CTEs that can affect athletes at competitive levels as well as combat veterans. Concussions are just as troublesome, causing physical and emotional harm to the victims whose symptoms may last a lifetime. Concussions may be the leading cause of ALS or other varying forms of CTE. Most of these diseases

“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 (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

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 neurodegenerative disease, which means there’s an increasing loss of neuron structure and function as the disease progresses. This is when there’s an unusual hardening of body tissue due to a lack of muscle nourishment and poor nerve cell transmission. ALS typically affects the ages of 40-70 years old, and for some unknown reason, military veterans are almost double the chance of developing ALS in comparison to the general public. The first large-scale effort to track ALS and its outcomes is the ALS CARE Database, where it stated that, of the people in the database, 60% were men, and 93% were Caucasian (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Fact Sheet, 2016). There are 2 main types of ALS; sporadic and

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).

Many people don’t know much about ALS; ALS is better known as “Lou Gehrig’s disease”.” ALS is a progressive disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord and the muscles throughout the body”. Musculr Dystrophy Assocation. "Stages of ALS Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis." Muscular Dystrophy Association. N.p., 2014. Web. 01 Nov. There is no clear-cut time frame for how long somebody has after they get diagnosed with this disease. Some peoples symptoms gradually grow over time, others occur rapidly, and then plateau. With this disease there is much care needed. Although there isn’t a cure there are treatments to help slow

Questions: Describe the typical person who has ALS. Cecil is caucasian. Does Cecil fit into this category? Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a nervous system disorder, yet many of the symptoms are muscular in nature.

As many as 30 thousand Americans are currently living with or have been diagnosed with ALS in the United States. ALS is a life threatening disease that scientists have yet to discover treatments for, but as of right now, ALS can not be treated. ALS can be hard to understand, many wonder how does one get ALS? What are the symptoms ? How is ALS diagnosed? Treatment options, and what is the prognosis of the disease?

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.

Example, if someone with ALS began to have speech problems, they can see a special

Case Study: A thirty six year old male has developed severe muscle weakness throughout the body. The condition began fifteen months ago with a left foot drop and within a year, he described difficulty with speech and swallowing, muscle twitching and cramping, and muscular atrophy throughout the upper and lower limbs. Within the last two months, his breathing has become more difficult, and there has been a noticeable difference in his voice. Prior to the fifteen months, he presented little to no symptoms. The patient, a medical doctor, has a wife and two young children.