Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

Amyotrophic meaning, “no muscle nourishment” in Greek, lateral meaning where the neurons are in the spinal cord, and sclerosis meaning “scarring.” ALS, often known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” named after the New York Yankee who first brought awareness to the disease in the late 1930’s, is a neurodegenerative disease, which affects the neurons in the brain. The nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that are responsible for sending and receiving motor signals progressively die off, causing the deterioration of simple motor skills in patients with ALS, such as walking, talking, and eventually speaking and breathing, however thinking is not affected by ALS. Early symptoms cause the person to slowly lose mobility of limbs, but in a matter of a few years, the person loses the mobility of most of their body and will eventually lose the ability to eat and breath, which will ultimately cause death. ALS deteriorates the patient's body, however does not affect the patient's state of mind or sanity while the rest of the body shuts down. People usually get ALS between the ages of 40 and 70. However, there is a growing trend where athletes are getting ALS in their thirties. ALS can be contributed to genetic predisposition, which means that the gene that is responsible for ALS is already in the person’s DNA. In recent studies, however, it was observed that individuals who have had suffered multiple concussions or any other head trauma are

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.

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), 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.

Everyday, an average of 15 people are diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis(ALS) also commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Across the world there are more than 5,600 cases of ALS every year. People all around the world are open to being diagnosed with ALS, it affects people of all ages, races, and gender. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis has affected millions of families and individuals since 1869. However, what is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, what does life look like for someone with ALS , and what research is being done for a cure?

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).

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

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

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.