FACTS ABOUT AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS (ALS).

What is ALS?
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a disease that progress rapidly and attacks the motor neurons (nerve cells) in the spinal cord and lower brain. The motor neurons are responsible for transmitting messages from the brain to the voluntary muscles throughout the body.

WHY ALS IS ALSO CALLED LOU GEHRIG’S DISEASE?
Lou Gehrig was a famous American baseball player who was diagnosed with ALS in 1939 and died in 1941 at 38 years of age. ALS is sometimes referred as Charcot’s disease, after Jean-Martin Charcot, the French neurologist who first described it in 1986.

WHAT CAUSES ALS?
Causes of ALS are not known. According to researchers, the suspected cause includes virus’s proteins deficiencies, genetic defects, heavy metals, neurotoxins, immune-system abnormalities, and enzymes abnormalities.

WHAT IS THE PROGNOSIS?
As the disease progress, muscle weakness and atrophy spread throughout the respiratory system and eventually patients must depend on a ventilator. Since the disease affects the motor neurons, it does not impair the patient’s mind, personality, intelligence, or memory. Neither does it impair the senses-patients are able to see, smell, taste, hear, and recognize touch. ALS usually proves fatal within three to five years of the onset of symptoms, but up to 10 percent of patients may survive for ten years or more.

WHAT IS DONE TO TREAT THE DISEASE?
There is no known cure for ALS. A doctor may prescribe medications to help reduce the discomforts associated with certain symptoms. Depending on the symptoms and the stage of the disease, the patient may benefit from certain rehabilitation services, including physical and occupational therapy, speech therapy, and various assistive devices.