Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is also referred to Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Lou Gehrig was a famous baseball player who suffered from ALS. Before he was diagnosed with ALS Gehrig was a star on the baseball field, eventually he started becoming week and went into a slump. He was then diagnosed with ALS, when he died in 1941 the disease was brought to national attention, although Lou Gehrig was not the first person with this disease. The disease dates back to 1824, when Charles Bell wrote a description of the disease. Jean-Martin Charcot found the connection between the symptoms and the neurological problems and started using the term Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in 1874. Amyotrophic comes from the Greek language. …show more content…
population show that a little over 5,600 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis each year. That equals out to fifteen new cases a day. The ALS CARE Database shows that sixty percent of the people with ALS are men and ninety-three percent of patients in the database are Caucasian. ALS cases estimated that 1.2- 4 per 100,000 individuals in Caucasian populations. Filipinos are second to Caucasians with 1.1 -2.8 per 100,000 individuals. Most people who develop ALS are between the ages of forty and seventy. There disease still however appear in people between the ages of twenty and thirty. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is twenty percent more common in men than in women. Military veterans, mainly those deployed during the Gulf War, are approximately twice as likely to develop ALS. Some famous people that have had Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis are: Lou Gehrig an American Baseball player, Professor Stephen Hawking who has conducted work on the basic laws that govern the universe, Lead Belly an American folk and blues musician, Charles Mingus an American jazz bassist, and David Niven an Academy Award-winning English actor (Famous People with Amyotrophic Lateral Slerosis, n.d.; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis- Topic Overview, …show more content…
There currently is no cure to stop or reverse Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Although, there is a drug called riluzole that slows the progression of ALS. Riluzole was approved by the Food and Drug Administration and recommended by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence. The drug was show to prolong the life of a person by at least a few months, and in more recent studies it allowed the patient for more time in better functioning states. Riluzole will not reverse the damage already done to motor neurons, and people taking it must be monitored for liver damage. There are several other drugs in clinical trials that are promising. There also are devices and therapies that can manage the symptoms of ALS. The devices and therapy help maintain more independent and prolong survival. There is evidence that people with ALS are living longer, if they have clinical management, use riluzole or other compounds and drugs that are under research. The tricky part of ALS is that no two people with have the same experiences (What is ALS?
Lou Gehrig was one of the best baseball players to ever play the game. He was blessed with an amazing career playing for the New York Yankees setting many major league records such as 2,130 consecutive games from 1925 to 1939. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and on July 4, 1939 Gehrig stood before his devoted fans at Yankee Stadium and announced that he had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The man that was known to everyone as the “Pride of the Yankees”, on this very day, showed how courageous he was by giving a passionate speech to his fans that was filled with sarcasm, emotion, and pride.
It was not until 1995, when he was dying from ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, that Morrie ended his career as a professor. A fatal neuromuscular disease, ALS is characterized by progressive muscle debilitation that ultimately results in paralysis. ALS is commonly known as Lou Gherig's disease, after the famous baseball player who died of the disease in 1941 at the age of forty. Mitch Albom recalls his graduation from Brandeis University in the spring of 1979. After he has received his diploma, Mitch approaches his favorite professor, Morrie Schwartz, and presents him with a monogrammed briefcase.
There is no cure for ALS at this time and treatment is focused on management of the symptoms, involving a combination of physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech, respiratory, and nutritional therapies. Moderate exercise may help maintain muscle strength and function. Drugs can also treat excessive saliva and drooling, and speech therapy can help compensate for loss of muscular control of the mouth. As the disease progresses and muscular degeneration spreads throughout the body, various devices may provide support, such as ankle braces, neck collars, reclining chairs, wheelchairs, and hospital beds. Respiratory support and feeding tubes are required when the person loses cont...
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly referred to as ALS, is a disease that can alter the daily life of a human in monumental and unending ways. In one of her articles about ALS, Caroline Ingre (2015) states that the disease is a “fatal neurodegenerative disorder” and further supports this by noting how the disease is marked by the degeneration in motor neurons in the brain, brainstem, and spinal cord (p. 181). This basically means that
According to ALS Association (2016, para. 1), “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 Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis eventually leads to their demise.” When our motor neurons die, our brain can no longer control our muscle movement. The survival time for a person living with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is up to ten years because eventually a person’s body will shut down completely. According to the Mayo Clinic (2016, para. 2), “As the disease advances and nerve cells are destroyed, your muscles progressively weaken. This eventually affects chewing, swallowing, speaking and breathing.” This disease is very scary to live with because you eventually die from
Lou Gehrig's disease is often referred to as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), this is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons come from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the entire body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS would eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is also lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, for this reason patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed (Choi, 1988).
ALS is a degeneration of motor neurons that move from the brain and down the
There are no current treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers are constantly looking for new and advanced treatments to alter the course. Any breakthrough in progress will ensure the improvement of the quality of life of people with dementia.
A piece of well-oiled machinery consists of an intricate and complex system: there are well-organized processes, mechanisms within the device work efficiently, and multiple processes function simultaneously to subsequently perform various functions. What happens when there is a glitch in the machine? When there is something wrong, such as connections between intricate processes, which do not follow through, the machine fails to function properly. In some cases, there are not any adjustment or fallback mechanisms. At that point, the damage can be irreversible and the machinery is no longer salvageable. [However, this can illustrate the interactions and processes within the complex machinery.]
One major reason 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 maintain independence as well as safety as the disease progresses.
Imagine if you loss control of your body but your mind stayed unaffected. You would be a prisoner in your own body, all leading up to your death sentence. That is the sad fate for the people diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). “Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder was first described by Ran in 1850. This description was then expanded in 1873 by Charcot, who emphasized the involvement of the corticospinal tracts. In the United States, ALS is often referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, after the famous ball player who was stricken by the disease in the midst of his career. (Yale School of Medicine, 2014)” In this paper will go through the definition, the process, the signs, the risk factors, etiology, and discus the known people that have suffered with this terminal disease.
I know that there is no cure for Alzheimer's disease and that you just have to take it one step at a time. Families have to learn how to deal with a loved one who has Alzhemier's disease; it will not be very easy. I know that Alzheimer's disease is when people get confused and lose their memory. You never know when you will get Alzheimer's disease or if you will even get it. It is just something that happens, that you and your family have to learn how to live with it.
Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease that attacks and destroys brain nerve cells or neurons eventually killing the cells. It is the most common form of dementia (around 50-60% of all cases of dementia). it affects 1 in 20 people over the age of 65 and 1 in 1000 people under the age of 65. Although it affects more people over the age of 65 it doesn’t mean that age is the cause of the disease. Patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease suffer from memory loss, thinking difficulty, loss of language skills and changes in behaviour. No one is immune to this disease. Alzheimer’s disease is named after Dr Alois Alzheimer’s. In 1906 he noticed changes in the brain tissue of a woman who died from an unusual mental illness. Her symptoms included loss of memory, language problems and unpredictable behaviour. After her death he examined her brain and found abnormal protein fragments called plagues and tangles. These protein fragments are the two major features of Alzheimer’s disease. The third is the loss of connection between nerve cells and the brain.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ASL), Lou Gehrig’s disease, a brutal, unforgiving illness of the neurological system with no known cure.
This is a neurodegenerative disease, meaning it results in progressive loss or death of neurons. It often starts off with effecting simple motor skills like writing and holding things, after a few months usually patients start losing the ability to walk, talk, or move any of their limbs. Although the brain trauma is what causes it, ALS has little-no-effect on the brain. This fatal disease is typically diagnosed around age 60 and most patients are given about 3-5 years to live after being diagnosed. It has been found that 10% of cases are shown as genetic. It was brought to attention that athletes were beginning to get diagnosed with ALS at a younger age than most. After extensive research in the early 2000’s, Brain Analyst, Dr. Mckee ran tests and finally came to the conclusion that the toxic proteins in the brains of ALS patients were coming from repeated blows to the head. It was then made evident why so many athletes in contact sports such as football, soccer, boxing, etc… were being diagnosed at such a young age and more frequently than