What Is ALS?

What Is ALS? First identified in 1869 by Jean-Martin Charcot (a French neurologist), it only started getting attention in 1939 because of Lou Gehrig, as it ended his career as one of the most famous baseball players ever. ALS is also known as Motor Neuron Disease (MND) or “Charcot Disease” and in the U.S. it is commonly referred to as “Lou Gehrig Disease”.  ALS stands for “Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis”. It is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that degenerates nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord, leading to death. As degenerate and neurons die, the brain’s ability to control the muscles is lost. Patients in the later stages of the disease often become paralyzed. Stephen Hawking has been living with ALS for 50 years On average, the time from onset to death is 39 months. Only about 4% of patients survive longer than 10 years (though rare cases have survived for 50 years). The most common reason of death is due to respiratory failure and happens within three to five years from when symptoms appear.

Symptoms: Weakness and/or muscle atrophy Trouble swallowing Cramping or stiffness of affected muscles Muscle weakness in an arm or a leg Slurred and nasal speech. About 75% of people who contract ALS experience "limb onset": The first symptoms are in the arms or legs. When the arms are affected, patients find it difficult to do simple tasks like turning a key. Patients with affected legs have trouble walking and even suffer from a dragging-leg. The other 25% of cases are "bulbar onset": The symptoms are difficulty speaking or swallowing, with speech becoming slurred & nasal and difficulty swallowing or loss of tongue mobility. In few cases, patients experience "respiratory onset": The muscles that support breathing are affected first, making it difficult to breath.

Causes: While there is no conclusive cause for ALS other than genetic tendency, potential causes include head trauma, military service, drug abuse, and participation in contact sports. Recently, research has suggested a link between ALS and food contaminated by blue-green algae. ALS is NOT contagious.

Diagnosis: At this time, there is no test can provide a definite diagnosis of ALS. The diagnosis of ALS is based on symptoms and signs observed in the patient, combined with a series of tests. As well as a regular follow-up to make sure that symptoms are not getting worse.

Treatment: The only treatment that has been found to lengthen survival by several months is Riluzole, which also extends the time before patients need breathing support. However, it does not reverse the damage already done to the brain, and can damage the liver (roughly 10% of users). Other than Riluzole, various drugs can be taken to reduce the severity of symptoms, occupational therapy can slow down the degeneration of brain cells, physical exercise strengthens the unaffected muscles and improves the cardiovascular system, and augmenting your nutritional intake, as ALS patients are almost always suffer from a deficiency in that area.

Fundraising: Recently, an ALS awareness campaign called “The Ice Bucket Challenge” has become viral, with many people participating. A contestant will fill a bucket with ice and water, state who challenged them, and in turn, challenge three others to take part. The contestant then dumps the bucket of ice water on themselves and should then donate US $10 to ALS research. If a contestant refuses the challenge, s/he is expected to donate US $100 instead. By August 25, the campaign managed to raise $79.7 million (compared to $2.5 million in 2013).

Consider donating to ALS research at the ALS Association or the MND Association.