Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig’s disease, was first described in scientific literature in 1869 by the French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. In the U.S., ALS is known as Lou Gehrig’s disease due to the fact that the famous baseball player, Lou Gehrig, died from the disease in 1941. Lou Gehrig played for the New York Yankees and is claimed to be one of the best baseball players ever. He acquired ALS in 1939 at the age of 38.

The cause of ALS is not completely understood. Researchers and physi

closest chapter of this agency is the Greater Philadelphia Chapter, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Their website is www.alsa-phila.org. St. Peter's ALS Regional Center was established in 1988 to provide people with ALS and their families with individual and family counseling. St. Peter's ALS Regional Center is also located in Albany, New York. More information can be obtained at www.stpetershealthcare.org. Also, the Fanny Allen Campus of Fletcher Allen Health Care, located on College Parkway, in Colchester, Vermont offers counseling and support to patients and their families who need help coping with the problems and repercussions of ALS. They are the closest chapter of their organization to Philadelphia. In my research, I was unable to find many local support groups on the internet.

ALS is not contagious, but at least 10% of ALS cases are hereditary. This is called familial ALS. Generally, familial ALS is defined as two or more cases in the same bloodline. In familial ALS the disease is autosomal dominant, meaning that if a parent has ALS, their children have a 50% chance of inheriting the defective gene. While the risk of inheriting the defective gene is 50% for each child of an affected person, not all people with the defective gene will develop the disorder. Twenty percent of familial ALS cases have a specific gene defect in the SOD (super oxide dismutase) gene. Ninety percent of ALS cases have no familial link, and they are called sporadic ALS.

ALS is almost always fatal. Fifty percent of ALS patients die within 18 months after diagnosis. Only twenty percent survive 5 years and ten percent live longer than 10 years. Persons with ALS who go on a ventilator may live for many years. Improved treatment is allowing ALS patients to live longer than before. There are rare cases where the disease progression plateaus or stops. There are a few cases of people reporting a reversal of symptoms. If an ALS patient opts for a ventilator, he or she can live for many years with the disease. A common cause of death

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