ALS
ASSOCIATION
ALS SURVIVAL GUIDE
TEAM
EARTHQUAKE
STEVEN SHACKEL
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LOU GEHRIG'S
DISEASE
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ("ALS"), is an almost
always fatal disease made famous after the New York Yankee's baseball player,
Lou Gehrig, was diagnosed with the condition in 1939 at the age of 38.
It is a syndrome or motor neuron disease or disease of the motor nerves
that control voluntary movement. Motor nerves attach to muscles and during ALS,
when the motor nerves gradually degenerate and die, the muscles no longer
receive nerve impulses. As a result of the nerve death, the muscles atrophy and
waste away. The disease is marked by muscular weakness and atrophy with
spasticity and hyperreflexia due to degeneration of motor neurons of the spinal
cord, medulla and cortex. Symptoms include tripping, stumbling and falling,
loss of muscle control and strength in the hands and arms, difficulty speaking,
swallowing and breathing, chronic fatigue, and muscle twitching and cramping.
When the disease involves the corticobulbar area of the brainstem, it affects
speech and swallowing. In such cases, the patient eventually loses the ability
to speak and must rely on augmentative communication devices in order to
communicate.
There are three different types of ALS:
(1) sporadic
ALS (90% of all cases);
(2) familial ALS (10% of all cases, hereditary);
and
(3) Guamian (high incidence of ALS on island nation of Guam).
ALS has no known cure and its cause remains a mystery. Further, there
are no known drugs or treatments to stop its progression. ALS does not affect
the mind. Mental acuity remains sharp. However, depression is common among ALS
patients and thus a strong network of supportive family and friends is very
important.
The letters ALS come from Greek words and stand for:
A-without Myo-muscle Trophic-nourishment
L-Lateral-side (of the spinal
cord)
S-Sclerosis-hardeing or scarring
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