You may have heard of ALS, although usually by another name. It is mainly known by most people as Lou Gehrig's Disease, after Lou Gehrig, a baseball player, was diagnosed with it.
ALS stands for Amyotrophic sclerosis. It is a progressive disease affecting the nervous system. It influences the nerve cells in the spinal cord and the brain which therefore causes a painful loss of muscular control.
The worst thing about this disease is that doctors do not even know why it occurs.
If you have ALS, the symptoms will begin with weakness in a limb, slurred speech, and muscular twitching. The beginning symptoms are not all that different from a stroke, although they happen much, much slower in pace.
At an advanced stage ALS can totally impact the control a person has over their muscles and how they move, as well as a persons' ability to move, speak, eat, and even breathe!
It is a fatal disease, and sadly, science is yet to find a cure.
To learn even more, look here; https://www.mybiosource.com/als_amyotrophic_lateral_sclerosis , or continue reading!
Causes Of ALS
ALS will affect your motor skills, things such as walking and talking, as it affects the nerve cells in the brain that control our ability to make voluntary muscle movements.
The motor neurons that control these will deteriorate over time, and eventually die. These neurons extend from our brains to our spinal cord and from there to muscles throughout our bodies.
When these neurons become damaged, due to a disease like ALS, they cannot send messages to our muscles, and therefore the muscles are unable to function.
For the most part the cause of ALS is unknown, although it is known that it is inherited in about 5 to 10% of people who do get it.
The research into this disease continues, in an attempt to find the possible causes behind ALS. A majority of the theories that have surfaced so far tend to lean toward a complex interaction between environmental factors and genetic factors.
There are, however, risk factors that come into play. This includes genetics, if people have family members with ALS, then there is a 50% chance that they and their children will develop the disease.
Similarly, Age does come into play too, as it is most common between ages 40 and 65. Before 65, it is more common for men to develop ALS than women, although after 70 years of age the amount evens out.
It is also known that smoking is an environmental risk for ALS, toxin exposure, and military service can also make you more susceptible to developing this disease.
Symptoms Of ALS
ALS is difficult as the symptoms can vary from person to person. It just depends on the neurons that are affected.
However, symptoms will usually begin with basic muscle weakness, and then this weakness can spread and exacerbate over time.
Other signs can include the following;
- Hand weakness and clumsiness.
- Weaknesses in your legs, feet, and ankles.
- Trips and falls.
- Walking becomes difficult and normal daily activities are harder.
- Speech is slurred and swallowing is more difficult.
- Muscle cramps/ twitching.
- Inappropriate laughing, yawning, and crying.
- Cognitive changes.
- Behavioral changes.
ALS typically surfaces in your extremities first then spreads as it advances.
How Is It Diagnosed
This disease is one of the hardest to diagnose. However, there are some ways to diagnose it. It can mimic other neurological diseases as well.
Simply consider the similarity in some of its symptoms to Parkinson's disease, or even early Alzheimer's or Dementia.
That being said, it can be diagnosed via an EMG, a Nerve study, MRI, blood and urine tests, lumbar puncture, and muscle biopsy.
EMG is one of the best ways as it will help a doctor to diagnose ALS or rule it out. If you do have ALS having an EMG can help guide you in exercise therapy
Nerve conduction studies are also very useful. This is a study which measures the ability of your nerves to send directions to muscles in various areas of your body. It can determine if you have any damage to your nerves, if there is a nerve disease present.
Sadly there is no cure for ALS, however treatment can help. It can slow the progression and prevent complications, making you more independent.
There are some medications available to help this disease such as Riluzole which can be expected to increase life expectancy by a few or more months.