Preview

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
736 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. Coming from Greek language Amyotrophic simply means no muscle nourishment (alsa.org). Lateral is the anatomical identification along the spinal cord and as the disease progresses, it eventually leads to sclerosis which is hardening of the region along the spinal cord. ALS was first discovered in 1869 by a famous French neurologist named Jean- Martin Charcot, ALS was originally named “Maladie de Charcot (alsab.org). Since then ALS has had many names all over the world but it is famously names in the United States as “Lou Gehrig’s disease” after the famous New York Yankee who was diagnosed with the disease that ended his baseball career and tragically his life later on.
There are three forms of ALS: Sporadic, familial and Guamanian. The sporadic form of ALS is the most common form contributing to 95% off all cases. The familial form of ALS is based on heredity and contributes 5% of all cases. The third type, the Guamanian form of ALS was observed in in Guam in the 1950’s and much is known about this form of ALS (Alsa.org). The cause of ALS is unknown but researchers have discovered that majority of ALS cases are not based on heredity but based on a chromosome 21 abnormality (ghr.nlm.nih.gov). ALS seems to be more common in men than in women before age 65 and can commonly occur between the ages of 40 and 70, the sex difference disappears after the 70 years of age. The Prognosis for people living with ALS is extremely poor with the average life expectancy being 3 to 5 years. ALS is rapidly degenerative and very fatal, attacking the nerves of the body with the patient becoming completely paralyzed, the will lose the ability to speak, breathe and swallow, while the mind is completely alert. There is no cure and only one known pharmacological treatment that slows the progression for this disease.
The tests usually done to diagnose ALS are lumbar

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In this assignment you will compare DMD and ALS. Fill in the table below using information from the book and websites. Research at least 2 new therapies for each disease. List the complete URLs of the websites where you found information. |DMD|ALS|Early symptoms|·…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Researchers found that ALS was commonly diagnosed in athletes. Ever since the career of Lou Gehrig a former baseball player was cut short by ALS, the disease has been forever linked to elite athletes. Lou Gehrig was a former baseball player for the NY Yankees. In 1939 Gehrig was having a hard time in his baseball career. He began to have difficulty with something as simple as tying his shoelaces. He checked himself into a Mayo Clinic, where after a series of tests, doctors informed him that he was suffering from ALS. On June 2, 1941, he passed away in his sleep at his home in New York. A team of doctors later found out that the amount to balls pitched and stuck to his head had caused head trauma to which then lead to…

    • 1273 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lou Gehrig Research Paper

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Many of us don’t know how deadly it can be sometimes! ALS which is short of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is not the disease you want to catch. Well known as the Lou Gehrig it’s a fatal disease that on average people live two to five years. The Effects of ALS often times can not be the most pleasant and affects the body quickly. Lou Gehrig was a baseball legend and was one of first famous people back in the day to get the disease. It’s a deadly disease!…

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    What is Als you ask? Lets start off with what Als stands for, it stands for Amytrophic lateral sclerosis. It is also called Lou Gehrigs disease. That’s the scientific term for it though most people usually call it ALS.…

    • 1308 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lou Gehrigs Disease

    • 868 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Motor neuron disorders are far from rare: Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and a variety of lesser diseases all come under that heading. A disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that controls voluntary muscle movement. ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis are all names for this horrid disease. The symptoms; Difficulty breathing, sudden paralysis. Treatment is slim to none but there are known medications to help subside the pain that may be felt. The Cause is unknown, doctors are unsure if this disease is genetic or cause by one’s self.…

    • 868 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a deadly motor neuron disease that affects the worldwide population; it causes degeneration of the upper and lower motor neurons within the body leading to muscle atrophy of the extremities and respiratory muscles, eventually leading to respiratory failure and death. Due to…

    • 1605 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    ALS disease is commonly known as Lou Gehrig disease. First, Lou’s career changed rapidly when he was diagnosed with ALS. “The great New York Yankees first baseman was diagnosed with ALS in 1939 and died two years later from the progressive neuromuscular disorder” (Aebischer). This passage suggests that Lou Gehrig had a very good life playing baseball until he was diagnosed with ALS and passed away. Next, Lou Gehrig was the man who discovered ALS, he may not have been the first to have had it. “Lou Gehrig was discovered by the disease, be he made it famous” (Bumas 3). This passage implies that people may not have been too familiar with Lou before he got ALS, but he has made that disease famous. Lastly, ALS took Lou Gehrig’s life too early. "Two years after Lou was diagnosed with ALS he passed away at the age of 37" (Gehrig 4). This…

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bent Steel

    • 1762 Words
    • 8 Pages

    definition. ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal…

    • 1762 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also called ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a genetic disease that affects the nerve cells that control muscle movement. ALS is a unique disease by the symptoms it causes when it is just beginning, the way it effects the people who have it, the people who are effected by it, and the way it is passed down from generation to generation in families.…

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Recent studies have found that athletes are contracting ALS at a much younger age compared to the age most normal people are diagnosed with it. Scientists have been working day and night to find the answers to this. The results, have shown that repeated blows to the head can cause a toxic protein to leak across the brain which is what deteriorates the brain cells. Since this toxic protein can spread throughout the body, once it reaches the spinal cord, it begins to make the nerve cells wither away. A big factor of the toxic protein leaking, is repeated blows to the head, or repeated concussions without fully resting. Athletes are at the highest risk of getting ALS because they are constantly getting hit in the head multiple times a game and could end up getting multiple concussions per game, and maybe not realizing that they even have a concussion, since not everyone will pass out from getting one which usually makes people believe that they’re perfectly fine, but in reality their brain has been injured, however that is an internal injury, so it’s impossible to be sure. There are a multitude of other factors that can be associated with explaining why so many athletes are being diagnosed with ALS. One of the biggest factors, is the amount of rest an athlete is getting after receiving a concussion or just a severe head injury in…

    • 1261 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    There has been many diseases that humans were able to overcome throughout the year and even now there are treatments for cancer, however; there are also diseases that has no cure and doctors do not even know what causes these diseases to appear in the first place. AlS and CTE are just a few diseases that have no explanation or reason to appear in the body or brain. ALS and CTE are so common that anyone in the world could be diagnosed at any time. So common, yet the doctors have no idea why it happens. Even though, there might not be a cure for ALS and CTE, there should be at least information about how to prevent this from happening.…

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Neurological disorders are diseases of the brain and the nerves. Everybody knows that the brain is the most important organ of the body. The brain is the Part of the central nervous system that is made up of the nerves which are connected to the body through the spinal cord. The human brain is responsible for all the mental and physical processes According to MedlinePlus If the brain is in a good condition it works automatically, but if problems appear brain will lose its ability to control the body system. There are several neurological disorders that can affect the brain and the most common type is Multiple Sclerosis. This essay will describe what the disease does and will explain in details the most common type of Multiple Sclerosis (MS).…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Studies show that the most common reason for ALS is because athletes are choosing to play with concussions, instead of resting. ALS impairs all physical function, but does not affect the mind. Doctors to this day have not found a cure for ALS. A person with ALS will start to feel weak to the body, and eventually be dependent on a spouse or family member to take care of them and their needs. A person with ALS cannot walk, or even talk without the assistance of a loved one. Most people with ALS are fed through feeding tubes. New developments have been created to allow a person with ALS to communicate with family members, such as the ability to type with movements of their eyes, and allowing the computer speak for them. Although many new developments have been created to fulfill a sense of comfort for a person with ALS, no new developments for a cure have…

    • 1569 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    mine

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages

    People first need to know what ALS is. ALS is very difficult to diagnose. So far there is no test or procedure to fully diagnose ALS. No test can definitely establish if the disease is present. A diagnosis includes, electrodiagnostic tests including electomyography (EMG) which measures the electrical activity of muscles at rest and during contraction An individual diagnosed with a terminal illness has one major battle to fight. Families of terminally ill patients suffer significant effects related to an illness, forcing some households to have large debts and making them unable to afford food and other necessaries. One specific terminal illness is called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. ALS is a disease affecting the human nervous system like the brain, muscles, and spinal cord. It is a deadly disease that cripples and kills its victims. ALS is a terminal illness that is characterized by specific symtoms and has treatments.…

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

    • 1342 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that is characterized by inflammation and a variety of neurological symptoms and lesions disseminated in both time and space. MS has traditionally been thought to be primarily a T-cell mediated disease, however, more recent studies implicate B cells in the pathogenesis as well (Knippenberg et al 2011). Additionally, low vitamin D levels is a modifiable risk factor that is associated with development and progression of disease activity (Munger et al 2014). Recent studies aim to address whether there is a connection between hypovitaminosis D and immunoreactivity in the pathogenesis and progression of MS.…

    • 1342 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays