Did you know...
- The US Government spends an average of only $400 per ALS patient per year
- 80% of all patients die within 5 years
- ALS can strike anyone, anywhere and anytime
- The 1 FDA approved drug for ALS patients extends a patient's life by only 3 months
- Average age of onset is 48 years old
- People don't get ALS...
Families get ALS
What is ALS
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks motor neurons in the brain (upper motor neurons) and spinal cord (lower motor neurons).
These motor neurons control the movement of voluntary muscles. When the motor neurons can no longer send impulses to the muscles due to ALS, the muscles begin to waste away (atrophy), causing increase muscle weakness. Motor neuron, or nerve cell, death makes it impossible for the brain to control muscles or signal them to move.
Symptoms of ALS include twitching and cramping of muscles (called fasciculation), loss of motor control in hands and arms, impaired use of the arms and legs, weakness and fatique, tripping and falling, dropping things, slurred or thick speech and difficulty breathing and swallowing.
In most cases, ALS patients do not experience impaired intellectual reasoning, vision or hearing. Eye and bladder muscles, along with sexual function and drive, are not normally affected.
ALS is diagnosed using a variety of tests and examinations including laboratory tests, muscle and nerve biopsy, spinal tap, x–rays, M
- There is no cure for ALS
- The incidence of ALS is five times higher than Hungtington's disease and about equal to Multiple Sclerosis
- 30,000 people throughout the US currently have ALS and 8,000 new cases are diagnosed each year
ALS has no prejudice— it occurs worldwide with no age, ethnic or economic boundaries.