Understanding ALS – Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Medical history has been filled with an array of disorders and illnesses, ranging from the common unwarmed to poisonous killers. Some argon easily treatable and others only whent be terminal, provided some of the worst are those that chill out remain without a mend one such disease is amyotrophic lateral pass sclerosis.Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a degenerative disease affecting the human nervous system. It is a lethal disease that cripples and kills its victims due to a breakdown in the bodys motor neurons. Motor neurons are nerve cells in the brainstem and spinal cord that control vigour contractions. In amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, these neurons deteriorate to a burden that all movement, including breathing, halts. Muscle weakness first develops in the muscles of body separate distant from the brain, such as the hands, and subsequently spreads through other muscle groups closer to the brain. Such early symptoms as this, however , can hardly be noticed.Early symptoms of ALS are very slight and often oerlooked. They undertake as simple things, such as tripping or move things. Twitching or cramping of muscles and abnormal fatigue of the arms and legs may briefly follow, causing difficulty in daily activities, such as walk of life or dressing. In more advanced stages, however, shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing and swallowing ensue, until the body is completely taken over by the disease. Intellect, eye motion, bladder function, and sensation are the only abilities spared.Where and how this deadly disease originated is unknown, but it was first identified in 1869, by the mention French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. ALS is not contagious, but research is be quiet vague on the coif of the disease. Today, there are three recognise forms of ALS genetic, sporadic, and Guamanian.The genetic form of ALS appears to be inherited or passed down within a family, and about ten percent of ALS patients retain a family history of the disease. An abnormal gene has been located in about half these families, but the cause of the remaining half is still unknown. The next, most common form, is sporadic ALS. These patients have no family history of disease, and the cause of their coming down with ALS is a mystery. Finally, is Guamanian ALS, called this because a high plowshare of cases occur in the Pacific Islands near Guam.One major condition ALS is such a frightening disease is because no cure has been established. Although no effective treatment has been developed, a number of drug trials have been conducted, and there are some devices designed to help ALS patients exercise independence as well as safety as the disease progresses. These devices include ankle or foot braces, cervical collars, and reclining chairs. Since there is no cure, however, the primary treatment is for management of symptoms.Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is also a difficult disease to diagnose, primarily be cause no one test can definitely establish if the disease is present. A diagnosis includes most, if not all, of the adjacent procedures electrodiagnostic tests, blood and urinary study, thyroid and parathyroid hormone levels, spinal pray and imaging, and muscular or nerve biopsy.Most who develop ALS are between the ages of forty and seventy years of age, although cases have been reported of victims in their twenties and thirties. It was once thought to be a rare disease, but studies have shown that about 5,000 people in the United States are newly-diagnosed with ALS each yearabout 13 new cases a day It isn estimated that about 100,000 people who are apparently well in the terra firma today leave alone die with ALS.Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is also popularly known as Lou Gehrig disease. Lou Gehrig was a famous baseball player in the 1930s for the New York Yankees. Once known as baseballs Ironman, Lou Gehrig was truly a sports legend. His promising career came to a whine halt , however, when he was diagnosed with ALS. The disease not only took away his career in baseball, but his life Lou Gehrig died at the young age of thirty-eight.In conclusion, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a deadly and frightening disease its victims cannot be saved. Someday, hopefully, a cure will be developed, and the suffering this disease is causing will be stopped.