ALS Disease INFO

The diseases,viruses, and illnesses that exist within our world, scientists and researchers alike work around the clock in finding out as much information about them as possible. By starting with discovering the cause, doctors then move forward into further understanding by researching how it starts, who it effects, and why. Lastly, researchers begin working on treatments and cures. Unfortunately, there are some diseases that effect the population that scientists still know very little about, even with all of their available resources. Though they are not able to provide a cure for diseases, they are able to provide as much understanding and helpful treatments. In knowing what is ALS, doctors are still uncertain about quite a bit of this disease, but their research has uncovered a great deal nonetheless.

MRI (axial FLAIR) demonstrates increased T2 signal within the posterior part of the internal capsule, consistent with the clinical diagnosis of ALS.

ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also goes by another name, Lou Gehrig's Disease. The disease effects the motor neurons that are located within the spinal cord that are responsible for sending messages to our brains allowing individuals to make voluntary movements. The body is comprised of nerves that allows the human body to make both involuntary movement and voluntary movements. Those movements or bodily functions that are involuntary are the beating of the heart, the digestive system, function of the bladder, kidney and liver. These are all functions that the human body has absolutely no control over themselves no matter how hard they try, however, with voluntary movements, the human body, through though, can make certain actions that they have control over. The body's voluntary movements are as follows: muscle movement, and on some level, breathing. The body also has no control over the sense of the body, such as sight, sound, taste, and touch. ALS effects the voluntary functions of the body that surround all of muscle control. For instance, muscle control can refer to a person who thinks of lifting their fork from their plate to their mouth, or going from a walk to a light jog. The basis of knowing what is ALS is knowing that the neurons connected on the spinal cord that are in control over muscle movement.

The symptoms that follow ALS reach throughout the spinal cord, the muscles of the entire body, and reaches into lungs. When ALS is broken down into it's full medical terminology, it simply translates to "no muscle nourishment". The motor neurons, in the early stages, will begin to degenerate. ALS is entirely considered a degenerative disease, starting with the neurons, and then spreading to the muscles of the body. Once the motor neurons begin to degenerate, the muscles within the feet, hands, legs, arms, and trunk of the body will begin to weaken, or in other words, atrophy. When muscles begin to atrophy, they are not receiving enough nutrients to sustain themselves, so in result, the muscles begin to waste away. As the motor neurons begins to degenerate, they are no longer able to send and receive messages from the muscles that the individual is sending to their brain. Eventually, degeneration of the muscles will spread further, and over time, speech and swallowing will become a symptom patients have to deal with. The physical appearance of patients will soon begin to change as they age, their limbs becoming extremely thin.

Upon being diagnosed with ALS, patients commonly ask what is ALS and how will it effect their lives. One of the first things that doctors explain to their patients is that each person who is diagnosed with this disease will experience the same symptoms, but at different times. No one patient always goes through the same experiences of symptoms as the other, it's unpredictable to know how a patients symptoms will arise and where until they manifest. What scientists have discovered is that on average, patients will begin to experience symptoms in either their hands, arms, and possibly their speech. When walking, patients might find that they are tripping over more things than usual, as they are finding it hard to lift their feet normally. Picking up items with their hands might soon become a harder task than usual, as they are losing feeling and strength in their hands. When the speech portion becomes apparent, their speech soon becomes thick, words are drawn out more than normal, and they can't always complete a full sentence. Another bit of news that doctors bring to light with their patients in discussing what is ALS is their soon to be change in their lifestyle, and their life expectancy. Patients diagnosed with ALS are given an average of 3 to 5 years. Over time, their symptoms in muscle degeneration become too overwhelming, and difficulty with breathing becomes an everyday ordeal to where patients must be placed on ventilators. Though the average lifespan of patients is 3 to 5 years after diagnoses, FDA approved drug, riluzole, has made is possible to extend lifespans longer than five years in some patients, sometimes to 10 and 20 years. The drug is currently the only medication approved by the FDA for treatment with patients with ALS, and it's purpose is to help slow down the degeneration process of the muscles.

In further research in understanding what is ALS, scientists have discovered that there is no rhyme or reason to this disease, it can effect anyone. While even though anyone can be diagnosed with this disease, scientists have discovered a trend in who this disease is effecting more than average. Overall, one to two people out of 100,000 are diagnosed with this disease year round. Each year, slightly more than 5,600 people are diagnosed with this disease. The age range of those most diagnosed with ALS is between the ages of 40 to 70, with 60% of these diagnoses being males, and 90% of the diagnoses are Caucasian. Though the mean of patients diagnosed with ALS live for 3 to 5 years after their diagnoses, of those diagnosed, 25% live longer than five years, and of that, 10% live longer than tens years, sometimes ranging into 20 years after their diagnoses. On average, the common age of those diagnosed with ALS is at the age of 55.