Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot in 1869 discovered Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (The ALS Association, 2015). ALS is more commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease after Lou Gehrig, a great American baseball player whose career unfortunately ended abruptly due to this incurable degenerative disease. ALS is the deterioration of motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord that leads to muscle weakness. This significant decrease in muscle strength eventually becomes paralysis, and the majority of those with this awful disease die from respiratory failure. This is the most common neuromuscular disease and affects 12,000 people annually and about 4 out of every 100,000 people (National Institute of Neurological,…
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Relatively rare, between 1.5 and 2.5 people are affected out of a population of 100,000 annually [2].This disease is caused by a continuous deterioration of motor neurons that are located in the brain, brain stem, and spinal chord. This disenables signals from the brain to communicate with the muscles, disabling the extremities to function, or paralyzing them [1]. Symptoms include but are not…
Imagine sitting in a chair watching television and wanting to change the channel but the only thing that you can movie is your eyes. This is what a person with a progressed state of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis goes through on a daily basis. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s disease is a progressive neurological disease that affects the motor neurons of the brain and spinal cord. For some reason the motor neurons associated with ALS degenerate and eventually die off affecting…
Over the past decades, medical history has had a group of diseases and types of illnesses. Some of these diseases are easily treatable, while others are killers, but the worst are those that still have no treatment or cure, thus being the dangerous amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s, is a rapidly progressive disease attacking the nerve cells. ALS is a chronic disease affecting the nervous system. This disease kills and cripples because…
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis also known as, ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Breaking down the disease into Greek language “A” means no, “Myo” refers to one’s muscles, and “Trophic means no nourishment to the muscles. Lateral identifies the part of the person’s spinal cord where the nerve cells that report to and control muscles are located and Sclerosis means scarring. These translations give people a…
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients…
Many people have heard of, or participated in, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge but many people fail to realize what ALS is. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s disease is a motor neuron disease that causes degeneration of neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is not a single disease, but a clinical diagnosis for many different pathophysiologic diseases that share a common factor of progressive loss of motor neurons and break down of the motor neuron system. ALS is known by…
ALS is a gruesome disease that affects thousands of people a year. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is neurodegenerative disease, the causes of ALS remain a mystery, and ALS also has wide range of symptoms, not much treatment is available, and new studies are performed daily involving ALS. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or “Lou Gehrig’s disease” is a neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord (What is ALS, Nov 30, 2014). Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a rapidly…
Impacts on ALS and CTE Not every hit thrown by a player seems to be victory yet, it causes uncured injuries to athletes. Being involved in a competitive sport can come in contact with a disease known as ALS due to head injuries. ALS is known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis this disease does not affect the brain, however, it gradually affects the human body. Receiving frequent injuries in the head can result in a disease known as CTE. CTE stands for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, this…
Two Very Deadly Diseases Imagine waking up and wanting to stretch, but physically cannot because of the loss of movement that comes with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). ALS is also commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. ALS is a very deadly disease and so is Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). ALS and CTE’s are not curable; they both lead to many people’s demise, especially athletes. Also concussions are factors that lead to brain diseases. Head trauma can also be a factor of many…