Lou Gehrig's Disease: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Lou Gehrig’s disease is also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). ALS is a disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. It is a progressive neurodegenerative disease, this eventually leads to death. The patients lose the ability for the brain to control muscle movement. Since most motor neurons are lost, the patients may eventually become completely paralyzed. Motor neurons can no longer send signals or impulses to the muscle fiber resulting in no muscle movement whatsoever (www.alsa.org). The cause of ALS is still puzzling to most researchers. The physiology of the Lou Gehrigs disease is difficult to find. About 5-10% of cases of this disease are inherited from the patients parents. The main issue with ALS is the death of both upper and lower motor neurons in the brain. the brain stem, and the spinal cord. Motor neurons develop protein rich inclusions in their cell bodies and their axons. Protein degradation takes part in these …show more content…
Patients may result in the inability to control movement. ALS has been proven to coexist in patients who have dementia, degenerative muscle disorder, and degenerative bone disorder called multisystem proteinopathy. Patients with ALS maintain hearing, sight, touch, smell, and taste. The first symptoms of this disease are mostly overlooked. The patients begin to experience weakness and muscle atrophy/ they have trouble swallowing, cramping, stiffness, slurred speech, and muscle weakness. Whichever motor neurons are damaged first is where the body is being affected. Patients have trouble walking and running, they trip and stumble a lot. Majority of people result in the inability to walk or use their hands or arms, speak, swallow food, and most end up on a portable ventilator. Most patients die from ALS because of respiratory failure within 3-5 years from having the disease