Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
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Also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive neurodegenerative disease (a disease that worsens over time and affects the nervous system).
This disease causes motor neurons, which control breathing and voluntary muscle movement (e.g., walking & talking), to degenerate and die. When these motor neurons die, the voluntary muscles start atrophying, leading to an inability to move, speak, eat, and breathe.
Around 10% of ALS cases are called familial, which means they are inherited, while the other 90% are known as sporadic cases, in which the disease occurs randomly. There is no known cause of ALS yet.
Symptoms
The progression and symptoms of ALS vary from person to person. Early symptoms include muscle twitches, muscle cramps, muscle weakness, slurred speech, and difficulty swallowing.
As ALS progresses, symptoms such as difficulty breathing, difficulty chewing/swallowing, drooling, uncontrollable emotional displays like crying or laughing, and paralysis.
Treatment
There is no cure for ALS, but there are ways to help manage the symptoms. Some examples include medications, rehabilitation, and therapy (speech, occupational, physical, etc).
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