Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis << uh `my` uh TROF ihk LAT uhr uhl sklih ROH sihs >>, also called ALS, is a rare, incurable disease of the nervous system. It is also called Lou Gehrig’s disease, after a baseball player who died from it. ALS gradually destroys the nerves that control the muscles. Weakness, paralysis, and eventually death result. Physicians advise patients to remain active as long as possible. No treatment can halt ALS.
ALS belongs to a group of disorders known as motor neuron diseases. It develops when certain nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord degenerate (break down) and die. These cells, called motor neurons, make the muscles work by sending them impulses (nerve messages). As the motor neurons degenerate, they lose the ability to transmit impulses. The muscles they control gradually stop working and then waste away. In 2011, medical researchers discovered the cause of ALS. They found that the disease occurs when nerve cells lose the ability to recycle the building blocks of proteins necessary for proper nerve function. Over time, the nerve cells become damaged and can no longer carry signals from the brain to the muscles that move the body.
Small twitches occur as the dying neurons send irregular impulses to the muscles. The arms and legs grow increasingly weak, and victims have trouble walking and performing simple tasks with their hands. They lose weight and gradually become paralyzed as their muscles grow useless. Talking and swallowing may become difficult. Death occurs when the muscles that control breathing stop functioning. In most cases, this happens within two to five years after the first symptoms appear.
ALS is painless and does not affect the mind. It afflicts slightly more men than women. Most victims develop the symptoms in their 50’s.
See also Gehrig, Lou and Hawking, Stephen William.
