Definition
Imagine slowly losing all muscular functions in your body. No longer able to lift your arms, walk, or talk. You can still think properly, your brain isn’t affected, but your body is shutting down. It leaves your mind trapped in an immobile structure. This is what Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis disease does to its victims (NIH, 2013).
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis disease is caused when the upper and lower motor neurons start to die or stop sending messages to muscles. With the muscles not functioning due to the lack of messages being sent to them, they start to weaken. As this disease progresses, bodily functions slow to a minimum and the respiratory muscles start to fail causing breathing issues. This is usually how most of the people suffering from this disease die, from respiratory failure (NIH, 2013).
Causes
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis disease does not have any known factors that cause it to occur. It has been researched and believed to be caused by a gene mutation. It can also be passed down through genes (NIH, 2013). Researchers continue to look for causes such as toxic exposure and what gene mutation causes it to occur. Scientists have found that the same gene that is known to cause frontotemporal dementia is also present in ALS gene mutation (NIH, 2013).
ALS has been found to strike middle aged men. Although women, and children are also known to develop this disease it is commonly found in middle aged men around 50 (Muscular Dystrophy Association, n.d).
Symptoms
When a person starts to develop symptoms of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis disease they will start to experience weakness in one area of the body, abnormal reflexes, or stiffness. Tests that can be done to see if a person has ALS are blood tests, CT...
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...ntinued research and spreading awareness of this disease, there is hope for a cure in the future.
Works Cited
ALS Association. (n.d.). What is als?. Retrieved from http://www.alsa.org/about-als/what-is-als.html
“Lou Gehrig Biography” (2013). Retrieved from http://www.lougehrig.com/about/bio.html
Murray, B., Mitsumoto, H., & Shaw, P. (2012). Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In L. Jasmine, VeriMed Health Care Network, D. Dugdale & D. Zieve (Eds.), Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001708/
Muscular Dystrophy Association. (n.d.). Overview: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis . Retrieved from http://mda.org/disease/amyotrophic-lateral-sclerosis/overview
Office of Communications and Public Liaison. (2013, June). Amyotrohpic lateral sclerosis fact sheet. Retrieved from http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/amyotrophiclateralsclerosis/detail_ALS.htm
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"Learning About Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy." Learning About Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. National Human Genome Research Institute, 18 Apr. 2013. Web. 15 May 2014.
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