Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Paper

Amyotrophic meaning, “no muscle nourishment” in Greek, lateral meaning where the neurons are in the spinal cord, and sclerosis meaning “scarring.” ALS, often known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” named after the New York Yankee who first brought awareness to the disease in the late 1930’s, is a neurodegenerative disease, which affects the neurons in the brain. The nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that are responsible for sending and receiving motor signals progressively die off, causing the deterioration of simple motor skills in patients with ALS, such as walking, talking, and eventually speaking and breathing, however thinking is not affected by ALS. Early symptoms cause the person to slowly lose mobility of limbs, but in a matter of a few years, the person loses the mobility of most of their body and will eventually lose the ability to eat and breath, which will ultimately cause death. ALS deteriorates the patient's body, however does not affect the patient's state of mind or sanity while the rest of the body shuts down. People usually get ALS between the ages of 40 and 70. However, there is a growing trend where athletes are getting ALS in their thirties. ALS can be contributed to genetic predisposition, which means that the gene that is responsible for ALS is already in the person’s DNA. In recent studies, however, it was observed that individuals who have had suffered multiple concussions or any other head trauma are

As I was reading the book assigned for my AP Language class, “Tuesdays With Morrie,” I read as Morrie struggled with ALS. Because of the disease, he lost his ability to walk and eventually he wouldn't be able to chew, talk, or use his arms. The struggles Morrie faced in the book inspired me to write a research paper on the disease in his honor.

Questions: Describe the typical person who has ALS. Cecil is caucasian. Does Cecil fit into this category? Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a nervous system disorder, yet many of the symptoms are muscular in nature.

Following the diagnosis of ALS the main goal of treatment is focused at relieving the symptoms. The most important matter in managing ALS patients is that they continually sustain the highest amount of movement and activity as possible and remain comfortable while doing so. Although a cure for ALS has not yet been developed, effective treatments do exist to assist the patients in their fight with the disease. Physicians urge the patients to carry on with their everyday lives doing all the activities and physically exerting themselves as they would normally do. But, they also recommend the patients to limit their amount of physical exertion

People first need to know what ALS is. ALS is very difficult to diagnose. So far there is no

Prior to reading Tuesdays with Morrie, my only knowledge of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) was that it is a progressive, debilitative disease with no known cure, it took the life of professional baseball player Lou Gehrig, and a video campaign called the Ice Bucket Challenge, used to promote awareness and raise money for research went viral last year. What I did not realize was just how quickly the disease can progress and how severely it physically devastates those who suffer with it. Ultimately, however, I found this book to be less about gaining a better understanding of ALS and more about learning valuable lessons on how to deal with life’s challenges, burdens, and responsibilities. Through this book, Professor Morrie Schwartz teaches

Summarizing the presented information, all the mentioned methods have added each other enriching the knowledge about the factors resulting in ALS. A factor of crucial importance is that all the methods allowed examining the pathology of ALS in vivo. Furthermore, studies in vivo have been approved boosting the detection of ALS at very early stages including genetic prognoses in the pre-symptomatic stage of the disorder. Thus, combining various methods of medical investigation offers the best opportunities for exploring the pathology of

The first signs of symptoms came in 2012, for Michael Tsun’s patient. Yet Michael’s patient had no idea that ALS is currently affecting his body, and during the first 6 months since the first sign of symptoms he has experienced slurred speech, stiff muscles and much more. Dr. Tsun could not do anything but watch the disease slowly take over his patient's life. Dr. Tsun felt so heartbroken that, “Tsun retreated into a shell of denial” (Duffy), according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. His family were the ones that “coaxed him out of the shell” (Duffy) and later Dr.Tsun went to a neurologist to see if the prognosis was true, the diagnosis was right on mark. Now Dr.Tsun cannot do anything for his patient but watch him slowly die. You can now see where

There are three forms of ALS. “Familial”, which is hereditary and passed through the genes. Another form of ALS Nonhereditary, which is “sporadic’ and ALS that targets the brain called “ALS/Dementia”. ALS is typically not inherited.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that causes devastating debilitation and raises many ethical questions. Many of these questions revolve around quality of life and end of life issues. ALS, specifically, complicates theses issues because of the natural progression of the disease. Patients gradually loose their ability to move, breath and communicate, while retaining, for the most part, their cognitive function. There is currently no cure for the disease and very little in the forms of treatment options, with the average life span after an ALS diagnosis only about three to five years with a small portion of the population living beyond 10 years. As a result, caring an ASL patient can put a lot of stress on their caregivers. Consequently, there is also the risk to the patients, who wishes can be ignored due to their inability to advocate for themselves.

After diagnosis, prognosis is grim. The average time patients live after diagnosis is about 2-3 years due to respiratory failure. Although, about 20% will live up to 5 years, 10% up to 10 years, and 5% of patients will live for 20 years or more [source]. While the prognosis is grim, there are treatments and medication available to slow progression and relieve symptoms. Treatments suggested are support (nutritional and physiological) and therapy (physical, speech, and occupational). Fortunately there is one medication, called Riluzole, that is FDA approved for ALS sufferers. Studies conducted on Riluzole have found it may slow progression because of its ability to decrease glutamate levels and excitation in the brain. Although it was found to have modulating affects throughout the body (both central and peripheral nervous system), it is not consistent throughout the population and may only have limited benefits [article citation]. Studies have further showed that the prolonged effect of Riluzole is only temporary (increasing life by a few months) and is not a long term solution [article

There are quite a few symptoms for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS. one of the first signs a patient will have is muscle twitches. Then the patient will have slurred speech and will start to trip or fall randomly. They will also have muscle cramps and foot drop, which means having trouble lifting the foot. Then they will drop things frequently, and have difficulty swallowing. Lastly they will have fatigue in arms or legs (ALS Assn)

Just imagine, you are a 44-year-old married man with 2 young children and you were diagnosed with ALS and that your diagnosis is terminal. You were told that you would lose all muscle function, never will be able to hold your kids or your loving wife again, or enjoy life with your loved ones. You will first lose the use of your legs; you will not be able to walk anymore and you will have to use a wheelchair to move around. Next you will lose the use of your arms and no longer able to feed or dress yourself. You will experience vocal cord spasms and eventually lose your voice, you would no longer be able to tell your kids, “I love you”. You will lose your bowel function and must

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as ALS or sometimes called Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a progressive neurological disease affecting the nerves that control voluntary muscle movement. It is the most common type of motor neuron disease. The body isn’t able to operate as it normally does due to the muscles weakening overtime. As the disease progresses, it starts to damage nerves of other vital areas of the body. When the body isn’t able to breath the way it should causing respiratory failure and other things start to go wrong, the body has no choice, but to shut down and die. (ALS Association)

In the middle stage of ALS one might experience their symptoms becoming more noticeable and in more regions of the body. Some muscles may be paralyzed, weakening, or not yet affected. Movements may become painful, falls occur more often, difficulty in swallowing or eating and difficulty breathing (MDA, 2015). Also, feeding tubes are usually required to get an ALS patient the nutrition they need. In the later stages of the progressive disease, most voluntary muscles are paralyzed, breathing muscles are severely compromised, mobility is extremely limited, speech becomes affected, eating and drinking by mouth is difficult (MDA,2015). Toward the end of the disease, an ALS patient is extremely limited to what he or she can do. Movement becomes painful, breathing and swallowing become a choir. Hospice is usually a big help in a disease like ALS. Hospice plays a huge role in not only helping the patient but also the family to get through this tragic disease. In most cases, respiratory