Source: https://www.biospectrumasia.com
ALS, which stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, is a motor neuron disease that is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Lou Gehrig was an American baseball player that was diagnosed with the disease back in the 1930s. He played professional baseball with the New York Yankees, eventually dying at the tender age of 38. Most people with ALS are diagnosed between the ages of 40 to 70, but it can affect people of all ages. ALS is a progressive condition that affects the nerves in the brain and spinal cord that control the body’s muscles. As time goes by, the damage to these nerves end up causing the muscles to weaken, making it difficult for people to control their body. Unfortunately, there is no cure for ALS, and to make matter worse, it is said to be 100% fatal where most patients normally die just 2 to 5 years after diagnosis. Although some patients have survived for at least 10 years or more. Famous theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking was probably one of the only ones to have beat the odds by surviving for at least half a decade with this debilitating disease. ALS usually begins by affecting the hands, feet and limbs first. As the condition worsens, so do the symptoms that come along with having it. Regular, everyday activities like walking, talking, eating, even breathing become too difficult to do. But a few things that aren’t affected are bladder control, any of the senses – sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell – nor the brain’s ability to work and think.
Although ALS has no cure, nor do scientists know exactly what causes these neurons to die in the first place, they learn more about it every day. And the earlier that patients with ALS are diagnosed, doctors can help treat some of the debilitating symptoms to make living with this condition more tolerable.
Here are 12 signs and symptoms of ALS disease.
1. Difficulty Walking
Source: https://www.pthealth.ca
