Understanding ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease)

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Research essay (ALS)

An individual diagnosed with a terminal illness has one major battle to fight. Families of terminally ill patients suffer significant effects related to an illness, forcing some households to have large debts and making them unable to afford food and other necessaries. One specific terminal illness is called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. ALS is a disease affecting the human nervous system like the brain, muscles, and spinal cord. It is a deadly disease that cripples and kills its victims. ALS is a terminal illness that is characterized by specific symtoms and has treatments.

People first need to know what ALS is. ALS is very difficult to diagnose. So far there is no test or procedure to fully diagnose ALS. No test can definitely establish if the disease is present. A diagnosis includes, electrodiagnostic tests including electomyography (EMG) which measures the electrical activity of muscles at rest and during contraction, theres also nerve conduction velocity (NCV) which is By checking your muscle strength, your ...

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