savvyanna.blogg.se - Lou garrison disease

How is ALS diagnosed?ĭiagnosing ALS is difficult because there is no single medical test for it. It is also likely that specific gene mutations and/or heredity modifies the disease and the likelihood of developing it. Research published in 2009 suggests that smoking tobacco may heighten a person's risk for ALS.Īny one or more of the following factors may be responsible for the disease: Specific risk factors for ALS have not been conclusively identified, but ongoing research is exploring the possible role of genetics and/or environmental factors. What causes ALS?Īlthough the cause of ALS is not completely understood, recent research suggests that multiple complex factors contribute to the death of motor neurons. About 25% live five years or more and up to 10% live more than 10 years. Approximately 50% of people diagnosed with ALS live at least three or more years after diagnosis. However, rare cases of the disease do occur in persons in their 20s and 30s. Most people develop ALS between the ages of 40 and 70, with an average age of 55 at the time of diagnosis. It is estimated that as many as 30,000 Americans have the disease at any given time. Based on US population studies, a little more than 5,600 people in the US are diagnosed with ALS each year – approximately 15 new cases per day. Who gets ALS?Ībout 60% of the people reported to have ALS in the United States are men, and 93% of patients are Caucasian. In more advanced stages, ALS causes shortness of breath and difficulty in breathing and swallowing, which is what eventally lead to a person's death.

Slow or slurred speech (called dysarthria or “thick speech”) and difficulty in projecting the voice.

Weakness in the muscles that control speech, swallowing or breathing.

Twitching and cramping of muscles, especially those in the hands and feet.

Weakness in muscles of the hands, arms or legs.

In the early stages of ALS, the symptoms may be so minor that they are overlooked. However, all people with ALS will experience progressive muscle weakness and paralysis. Not all individuals with ALS develop the same symptoms or the same sequences or patterns of progression. The initial symptoms of ALS can vary considerably from person to person, as can the rate at which ALS progresses.

However, the muscles can also become spastic (moving involuntarily) and this may lead to increased muscle tone in some parts of the body. As muscle tissues deteriorates, the muscles become weaker and atrophy (wither) and the person's limbs may begin to look thinner.

The disease progresses, affecting more nerve cells as time goes on. This results in symptoms that vary from person to person. (The famous physicist Stephen Hawking, for example, lived for more than 50 years after he was diagnosed.) There is no known cure to stop or reverse ALS.Įach person with ALS experiences a different proportion of upper and lower motor neurons that die. The average life expectancy after diagnosis is two to five years, but some patients may live for years or even decades. In both cases, motor neurons are damaged and eventually die. Generally, ALS is categorized in one of two ways: Upper motor neuron disease affects nerves in the brain, while lower motor neuron disease affects nerves coming from the spinal cord or brainstem. Other, nonmotor neurons, such as sensory neurons that bring information from sense organs to the brain, remain healthy. ALS does not affect a person's sensory functions or mental faculties. In people with ALS, these cells die off, causing the muscle tissues to waste away. These cells, called "motor neurons," run from the brain through the brainstem or spinal cord to muscles that control movement in the arms, legs, chest, throat and mouth. Is there a cure for ALS? How is ALS treated?Īmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease or motor neuron disease, is a progressive, degenerative disease that destroys the nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movement.