Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

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

“ 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

ALS is more commonly known as Lou Gehrigs disease. The progressive disease poisons the nervous system by a chemical that is released after a blow to the head; this chemical is known as Tou. Tou is released into the brain after a blow, poisoning the nervous system causing body muscles to shut down.

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

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).

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. ALS causes muscle weakness and impacts physical functions this occurs in the nervous system. In the nervous system motor neurons of the body are being affected. Usually, ALS causes weakness and paralysis in the muscles. The muscles slowly waste away and a person’s legs and arms become much weaker. In some cases there may be muscle spasms, weight loss, and difficulty in breathing, eating, and swallowing. The mind does not get affected and there is no loss of sensation, or sense of touch during ALS. The average for a person with ALS is about two to five years from the time diagnosis. In some cases people can live with the disease for five years and more. ALS is mostly being develop between the ages of 40 and 70. Athletes usually get diagnosed between 30 and 34. It shows that athletes have had multiple head trauma and they also have abnormal

There is one major problem with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Scientists and doctors have still not been able to find a permanent treatment for it. Although there is one medicine called riluzole that can slow down the symptoms, giving victims longer to live. Physical therapy and the use of braces, are non-medicinal ways of helping with the muscle weakness. There are many medications that can be used to help with specific symptoms of ALS. Since choking is common in someone with ALS, most people are hooked up to a tube and are fed through it. This is called a gastrostomy. A gastrostomy is when they make an opening in the stomach from the abdominal wall so they can put in food. This is obviously a surgical procedure.

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

Now although there hasn't been any proven treatment for ALS, there has been one drug that has been approved. This drug is known as Riluzole (or Rilutek). It appears that Riluzole can provide up to 3 months increase for life expectancy if taken regularly, a significant slowing and loss of muscle strength. Riluzole helps by decreasing glutamate from nerves. Other treatment options could be experimental, which doesn’t need any effect, but it doesn’t have any proven benefits to doing experimental treatment either. Some options might be for one to go to a physical therapist, to help try to gain that muscle back and gain more strength in areas that could possibly help you to do everyday tasks. Occupational therapy is another option. Occupational therapists help with everyday life. They are there for you mentally and physically; they help with getting people back into a routine. One might go see a speech therapist, to help them talk better or slower so they are understood better. Speech therapy would help with stuttering and speech impediments. Treatment options that would be a good idea for people with ALS is a Nutritional adviser. These people help get you on a nutritional diet where some may have lost a lot of weight due to not getting the nutrients from the food they are, or were, eating. Also mechanical ventilation could help a patients breathing when it becomes

Some things that can cause ALS is a genetic mutation in the SOD1 gene when a baby is born. It can also develop over time. There is no known cure but some things that can help are medication and physical therapy. In most cases, patients die within 2-5 years of being diagnosed.

ALS is one of the most common neuromuscular diseases worldwide (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Fact Sheet).There are three different types of ALS causes there is, familial, sporadic, and guamanian. Familial is 5-10% , sporadic is the most common which is 90-95% of all ALS causes and guamanian is rare variant. Guamanian is very similar to ALS almost the same and it happens because of something toxic that they are eating which messes with their nervous system (ALS[Lou Gehrig’s Disease]). It is also a disease varied with etiology characterized by rapidly progressive in weakness in the muscles.

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.