Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Synthesis Essay

Imagine not being able to lift a fork to eat daily breakfast, or wipe one’s face with a napkin because the muscles in the body that once functioned naturally are now degenerating, and ironically the only muscle that is left unfailing is the brain. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) also commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease is the illness that changes lives drastically each and everyday. ALS is a progressive neurological disease that is constantly targeting athletes around the world; thus creating an epidemic. Scientists have been studying this illness for years now and have come to the conclusion that it is indeed head trauma that causes the symptomatic results of ALS. Through the use of the Tau Protein that is found after repeated blows to the head, and when leaked to the spinal cord will cause Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis along with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). The CTE is similar to ALS in the ways …show more content…
The most common symptoms can be incredibly terrifying for the people around those who have CTE, such as random bursts of aggression, depression, and suicidal thoughts. There are other symptoms that are not as noticeable, for instance the loss of memory which can seem slight at first, but can eventually lead to dementia. Parkinsonism which is the loss of automotive movements; this can make one shake and twitch at a different pace at times. CTE contains more mental disabilities than ALS partly because of the fact of mood changes, and the incapability of remembering every day activities. Athletes are the number one persons who develop CTE’s because of the impact of blows to the head that athletes receive. Recently athletes have committed suicide because of the feeling that some unusual activities were happening inside of their brains. These incidents have caused scientists to research more of CTE’s and what causes