Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Lou Gehrig’s disease

What is ALS? A progressive neurodegenerative disease Affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord

Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually lead to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost.

Patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed. For the vast majority of people, their minds remain unaffected.

“No Muscle Nourishment” A-myo-trophic Greek language “A” means no or negative. “Myo” refers to muscle. “Trophic” means nourishment. “No Muscle Nourishment”

Lateral Identifies the areas in a person’s spinal cord where portions of the nerve cells that signal and control the muscles are located. As this area degenerates, it leads to scarring or hardening (“sclerosis”) in the region.

Symptoms of ALS Muscle weakness in one or more of the following: hands, arms, legs or muscles of speech, swallowing or breathing Twitching and cramping of muscles Impairment of the use of the arms and legs Thick speech and difficulty in projecting the voice Shortness of breath, difficulty breathing and swallowing

Symptoms (con’t.) Since ALS attacks only motor neurons, the senses of sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell are not affected. For many people, muscles of the eyes and bladder are generally not affected. For the majority, their mind and thought are not impaired and remain sharp even though the body is degenerating.

Who Gets ALS? Over 5,600 people in the US are diagnosed each year. 60% are men; 93% are Caucasian 50% of all people affected live at least 3+ years after diagnosis.

Treatment No cure or treatment that halts or reverses ALS. FDA approved drug, Rilutek, that modestly slows the progression of ALS. Therapies can help manage the symptoms.

Famous People with ALS Harry Browne -- Author and two-time Libertarian U.S. presidential candidate

Famous People Lou Gehrig -- National Baseball Hall of Fame member. ALS is often called Lou Gehrig's disease.

Famous People Stephen Hawking -- physicist and author of A Brief History of Time. Hawking has lived with ALS for the past 43 years.

Famous People Jim "Catfish" Hunter -- Baseball player

Famous People Morrie Schwartz -- Educator and subject of the book Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Famous People Mao Tse Tung -- Communist leader of China, according to a biography written by his personal physician

Famous People Henry Wallace -- U.S. vice president under Franklin D. Roosevelt