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What Is ALS?
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), sometimes called Lou Gehrig's disease, is a rapidly progressive,
invariably fatal neurological disease that attacks the nerve cells (neurons) responsible for controlling
voluntary muscles. Unable to function, the muscles gradually weaken, waste away, and twitch. Eventually,
the ability of the brain to start and control voluntary movement is lost.
ALS causes weakness with a wide range of disabilities. Eventually, all muscles under voluntary control are
affected, and patients lose their strength and the ability to move their arms, legs, and body. When muscles
in the diaphragm and chest wall fail, patients lose the ability to breathe without ventilatory support. Most
people with ALS die from respiratory failure, usually within 3 to 5 years from the onset of symptoms. However,
about 10 percent of ALS patients survive for 10 or more years.
Because ALS affects only motor neurons, the disease does not impair a person's mind, personality,
intelligence, or memory. Nor does it affect a person's ability to see, smell, taste, hear, or recognize
touch. Patients usually maintain control of eye muscles and bladder and bowel functions.
As many as 30,000 Americans have ALS, and an estimated 5,000 people in the United States are diagnosed
with the disease each year. ALS is one of the most common neuromuscular diseases worldwide, and people of
all races and ethnic backgrounds are affected. ALS most commonly strikes people between 40 and 60 years of
age, but younger and older people also can develop the disease. Men are affected more often than women.
In 90 to 95 percent of all ALS cases, the disease occurs apparently at random with no clearly associated
risk factors. Patients do not have a family history of the disease, and their family members are not
considered to be at increased risk for developing ALS.
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Video - What Is ALS?
CLICK HERE
to see a multimedia presentation about ALS prepared by the Patient Education Institute for MEDLINEplus.
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