Causes Of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

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

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.

Concussions in football have always been a problem. Recently the NFL is doing more to protect players from this serious head injury. a couple of moves made by the NFL to prevent concussions is that they moved the kickoff line up 5 yards resulting in a higher chance of a touchback. Another move to prevent concussions is that players are getting fined for illegal tackles that occur. The NFL is doing more to protect players because they realize concussions can have serious effects later in life like losing the ability to remember things. According to Nadia Kounang “NFL football players are 3 times more likely to have a neurodegenerative disease compared to the average population”. Examples of these diseases are Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. The target population is football players who have received concussions in their playing days. Many of these head injuries were caused by players who wanted to excite the crowd with a big hit knowing a lot of the fans were just there to see violence and that the player would become more popular to those

Even though there is no way to make concussions one hundred percent safe, that does not affect athlete’s desire to play the game. Concussions may be a serious problem but, many times that does not get in the way of playing the game. Players should still be able to play the sports they love but there should be stricter rules on concussions and blows to the head. No game is worth having permanent brain injuries

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS is a disease caused by concussions and head trauma. ALS is a rare neurological disease that mainly involves nerve cells, which control voluntary muscle movement, such as breathing, talking, or chewing. With this being a progressive disease that has no cure it has made a tremendous impact for check ups after blows to the head. A hit to the head does not always mean you have a concussion, but with symptoms and side effects the athlete should not take a chance and get it checked out immediately. This is more of a physical incapacity disease. ALS has become a common disease for athletes in the mid-twenties, and life expectancy is very slim once the diagnosis has taken place. The main reported life periods for ALS athletes has been 3-5 years, but with medication and treatments it has had higher life expectancies about 20% have 5 years, 10% have 10 years, and 5% have 20 years. The athletes lives have changed from the beginning of the diagnoses till the end of the lives they do live with the disease. Being a scary thing to think about athletes do tend to have the ability to walk away at retirement perfectly clear from ALS, which is a win.

Disease such as ALS and CTE can devastate an athlete’s career and their life. Although these disease affect the body differently, they are both degenerative diseases that destroy whichever body part they affect with time. Although leagues recognize the harm of concussions, they fail to take liability of the side effects after. Despite making millions off of players and their athleticism, leagues also fail to own up to lawsuits regarding that their sport is dangerous and can lead to greater susceptibility to diseases. Many athletes play sports because it is their passion, however it is not justified that their leagues fail to take care of them after they suffer the consequences of concussions and head trauma.

Concussions, a type of traumatic brain injury, are a frequent concern for those playing sports, from children and teenagers to professional athletes. Repeated concussions are a known cause of various neurological disorders, most notably chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which in professional athletes has led to premature retirement, erratic behavior and even suicide. Over 1.6 million Americans have sustained concussion-related injuries. Because concussions cannot be seen on X-rays or CT scans, attempts to prevent concussions have been difficult.

In America, the sports industry is one of the largest and most powerful country; whether the sport is football, baseball, basketball, or any of the other sports the country has. Recently reports and documented cases have risen involving some of these sports’ greatest athletes, as well as current players, dealing with concussions (Famous sports concussions, 2012). Numerous athletes, some of them being the sport’s highest profile players, were found to have several mental illnesses and diseases, that have been attributed to head injuries sustained while they were playing their sports. The biggest and most predominant of these injuries is concussions. They can cause not only immediate issues, but also a lifetime of health problems (Smith, 2009). Sports related concussions lead to brain deterioration, which leads to long lasting effects throughout life.

June 19th, 1939 one of the New York Yankees and baseball's most famous first baseman, Lou Gehrig, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis after six days of extensive testing. Fifteen days later on July 4th, 1939 Lou Gehrig flew to Yankee stadium in New York and gave his famous, “Farewell to Baseball” speech. The speech wasn't just for Yankees fans, but for all fans of baseball. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS for short, is a a nervous system disease that weakens muscles and impacts physical function, usually killing the person in two to five years. Gehrig knew he didn't have long. That's why fifteen days after his diagnosis Gehrig was standing at home plate in Yankee stadium telling all baseball fans of his retirement due to illness. In under 300 words, using ethos, logos, and pathos, Gehrig transformed how baseball fans viewed him, not just as a player, but as a person. Gehrig showed the world how strong willed and fearless a person can be in the face of adversity.

Keeping children away from what they love to do isn’t fair to them, even though there is a higher risk for their child to suffer from a concussion, because their brains are not fully developed yet. Kids should be able to live their dreams and play whatever sport suits them. If they don’t get to play as a child, how will they know if they like the sport or can play it? They wouldn’t have any experience playing the sport, just watching the games on television or going to them. Sports are not the only way someone can get a concussion. A child could fall off a bed, trip over something, or get into a wreck and hit their head and

Head injuries are on the rise for athletes at all levels of play. Reports show that the number of children seeking emergency medical care for sports concussions incurred while playing competitive athletics has more than doubled. In 2015, 11 high school football players died from head related injuries. According to “The game’s tragic toll” written by Kalyn Kahler and Dan Greene eight deaths happened in game during regular play and 3 deaths happened outside of game time. Eleven  deaths may not seem like a lot in a year but numbers start to add up though years. This is enough information to definitely prove that it is a bad idea to still play these sports. Is it really worth it to risk your life over something that otherwise would only take up about fifteen percent of your life otherwise? Unlikely, yet these sports are still played every single day. The medical effects have recently caught media attention appearing on fox news and has spread rapidly. Nobody is saying anything good about them which is what needs to happen in order to protect people from being hurt. Many athletes receive concussions then still return to the sport again!  A “second impact syndrome” is a situation in which an individual sustains a second concussion previous to full recovery according to “concussion / mild tbi”. A second brain injury, or cumulative concussions can be more dangerous than the original. A concussion victim, Anne Frank says

In today’s society, sports are the main highlight in the lives of youth, collegiate, and some adults. Many boys and girls have hopes and dreams of one day becoming a professional athlete. Many people are so involved in the love of the game, that they are unaware if the dangers their children are in. The most dangerous sport involves the lives of males. Over the past decade, many athletes have died or have brain problems because of so many hits to the head, causing them to have a concussion. Concussions damage the brain and create illnesses and diseases the are hard to get rid of. Although sports in all levels are deeply ingrained in the American society, football and hockey are riddled with head injuries and should be changed from the lowest levels through professional sports to lessen the devastating effects of concussions.

Playing sports is seen as all fun, but when the majority of professional athletes have suffered a concussion or some type of head injury at least once in their career, it stops being fun. Many major league and professional sports teams need to start to make changes to protective equipment, but the leagues also need to introduce stricter rules and regulations along with mandatory equipment for all players to lessen the chance of serious head injuries.

Sports athletes such as Lou Gehrig gain success and win championships, but they may lose their ability to perform daily functions. Diseases such as ALS and CTE are one of the main causes that strip athletes from continuing to practice sports and physical activities. These two conditions are consequences of hits and impacts to the head that affect the brain. Therefore, people should be prepared and know what to do when an athlete receives a blow to the head. Rules should be made to protect the athletes from head trauma like adding equipment or prohibiting certain physical activities that would create a chance of receiving an impact to the brain.

Recent studies show that some athletes are now actually being diagnosed with either of these diseases as early as in their late 20’s. For example, Pete Frates, a former baseball player for the Boston College, was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 27. He first realized something was wrong when he was struck on the left wrist with a baseball and never fully recovered from the lingering weakness. He was diagnosed on March 13, 2012 and immediately started to raise awareness. In 2014 he launched the Ice Bucket Challenge along with the help of his friend Pat Quinn to raise money for ALS research. In addition, Chris Henry, who was a football wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals, was diagnosed with CTE at age 26. He is the only known player to have had CTE and was still active in sports. He was diagnosed after he had fallen from a pickup truck and died on December 16, 2009. Although his family had no knowledge of this, they did notice the mood swings, headaches, and anger management issues that he did not have before. Medical research show that athletes such as Pete Frates and Chris Henry are being diagnosed at an early age because they frequently suffer from head trauma and concussions. Athletes often do not realize the potential danger they are putting themselves in each time they play and get a brain