Lou Gehrig's disease

Lou Gehrig's disease or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease that primarily affects motor neurons, which are nerve cells responsible for controlling voluntary muscles such as those involved in movement, speaking, eating, and breathing. It is named after Lou Gehrig, a famous American baseball player who was diagnosed with the disease.

Overview

ALS is characterized by the progressive degeneration and death of motor neurons. As motor neurons die, the brain's ability to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, individuals in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.

Symptoms

Early symptoms of ALS often include increasing muscle weakness, especially involving the arms and legs, speech, swallowing or breathing. As the disease progresses, patients may experience difficulty in moving, swallowing (dysphagia), speaking (dysarthria), and breathing (respiratory failure).

Causes

While the exact cause of ALS is unknown, it is believed to involve a combination of genetic and environmental factors. A small percentage of cases are inherited (familial ALS) while the rest have no known cause (sporadic ALS).

Diagnosis

Diagnosis of ALS is primarily based on the symptoms and signs the physician observes in the patient and a series of tests to rule out other diseases. Tests may include electromyography (EMG), nerve conduction velocity (NCV) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Treatment

There is currently no cure for ALS. Treatment focuses on relieving symptoms, preventing unnecessary complications, and slowing the progression of the disease. This may include physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and medications such as riluzole and edaravone.

Prognosis

The progression of ALS varies significantly from one person to another. Although the average survival time is three to five years, about twenty percent of people with ALS live five years, ten percent will survive ten years and five percent will live 20 years or more.

See also

• Motor neuron diseases
• Neurodegenerative diseases
• Muscular Dystrophy
• Parkinson's disease