History & Medical Background of ALS
ALS stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, it is a neurological disorder that takes over the nerves in the brain and spinal cord (NINDS, 2017). Amyotrophic means no muscle nourishment in greek (ALS Association, 2016). This disease stops generating motor neurons and you eventually lose the ability to control your muscles, which may lead to paralyzation (ALS Association, 2016). It is a very rare disease and incurable, only about 30,000 Americans have it (John Hopkins, 2017). This disease starts off slow, but gradually gets worse and worse. In 1939, Lou Gehrig brought awareness to this disease. Lou Gehrig was a famous baseball player, who was diagnosed with ALS, and unfortunately lost his life to it. ALS is commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease because of all the attention it brought to it (ALS Association, 2016). After this, scientist began researching and still are today. They still have found no cure, but have made some great progress in the learning about the disease (ALS Association, 2016).
Symptoms Of ALS
There are many symptoms of this disease, some are more obvious than others, and not everyone has the same symptoms (John Hopkins, 2017), (NINDS, 2017). Some common symptoms are: muscle twitches, muscle cramps, stiffness in muscles, muscle weakness, difficulty chewing or swallowing, and slurred speech (John Hopkins, 2017), (NINDS, 2017). They never lose their ability to think properly or remember, so they can become anxious or depressed, as well. They know they are dying, and they can’t do anything about it (NINDS, 2017)
Usually, the first signs are in the hands or arms. They will start to have trouble doing simple tasks, such as, writing or buttoning a shirt. They can also have trouble with their legs, they will trip a lot or have trouble walking and running (NINDS, 2017). They usually don’t realize it at first, but once it’s a pretty regular occurrence they start to get worried (John Hopkins, 2017).
As the disease worsens, muscle weakness spreads. They become unable to stand and go to the bathroom by themselves (NINDS, 2017), (John Hopkins, 2017). Sometimes, they may have uncontrollable periods of laughter or crying ( ALS Association, 2016), (John Hopkins, 2017). Towards the end, they can’t control their lungs so they need to be put on a ventilator just to breathe (ALS Association, 2016), (NINDS, 2017). Ultimately, someone with ALS will die by either choking or become unable to breathe.
Causes of Disorder
There are two kinds of ALS, familial and sporadic (ALS Association, 2016). About five to ten percent and the other ninety to ninety-five is sporadic (NINDS, 2017), (John Hopkins, 2017), (ALS Association, 2016). Although there is no one determinant, some cases have been linked to genetics and environmental factors (NINDS, 2017).
If someone has sporadic ALS, it means there is no one clear risk factor or family history (NINDS, 2017). They have found that it usually occurs between 40-70, but there are a few cases when they have been younger or older (ALS Association, 2016). Also, scientists have found that warfare toxins increase your chances of having it. Military veterans are 1.5 to 2 times more likely to have it (NINDS, 2017).
If they don’t have sporadic, they have familial ALS. This means you have a family history with it. If someone in your family has it, your chances of having it go up to 50% (ALS Association, 2016). They have found that it is linked it a mutation on the SOD1 gene (NINDS, 2017).
Methods of Treatment
Due to recent research and findings, they have created a drug called riluzole. Riluzole is a drug that doesn’t cure ALS, but it helps slow down the process (ALS Association, 2016), (UCSF, 2017). It is really expensive and it’s still not guaranteed to work (UCSF, 2017). There is still no cure for ALS, there are only methods to slow down the process of muscles weakening. There are also some other cheaper pills called baclofen or diazepam, they help control muscle spasms (UCSF, 2017). If they don’t want any medicine, they can do physical therapy. This helps keep the muscles loose and slows the progression of the disease (NINDS, 2017).
Effectiveness of Treatment
There are no treatments that will effectively get rid of ALS, they will only prolong the life to the person (NINDS. 2017). Since the day they were diagnosed, about twenty percent of the patients live five years or more; and up to ten percent will survive more than ten years (UCSF, 2017), (John Hopkins, 2017). Researchers are still studying and trying to learn more about this disease today since it hasn’t been around for very long and it’s very rare they don’t have very much research on it (ALS Association, 2016).
References
ALS Association. (2016). About ALS.
URL: http://www.alsa.org/about-als/facts-you-should-know.html
John Hopkins Medicine. (2017). ALS- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
URL: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org
NINDS. (2017). Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Fact Sheet.
URL: https://www.ninds.nih.gov/
UCSF Medical Center. (2017). ALS Treatment.
URL: https://www.ucsfhealth.org/conditions/als/treatment.html