Overview
ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a neurodegenerative condition that affects the nerve cells (neurons) in your brain and spinal cord. It targets your motor neurons. These regulate voluntary muscle movements (like the ones you use to talk, chew and move your arms and legs) and breathing.
Your neurons communicate with your muscles to tell them to move. ALS disrupts the communication, like bad phone reception. The messages sent from neurons to muscles break up and don’t get through clearly, which eventually causes the call to end. As a result of this poor connection, neurons can’t take any new calls.
Symptoms of ALS progressively get worse over time. You might notice muscle weakness and muscle twitching that affects your ability to walk independently, reach for objects, chew food and talk. ALS eventually causes your muscles to waste away (atrophy). Atrophy can interfere with your ability to breathe and lead to life-threatening outcomes.
Although there’s no cure for ALS, the treatments are constantly improving. The right combination of treatments can help slow the progression of the disease and improve your quality of life.
Why is ALS called Lou Gehrig’s disease?
ALS was formerly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Lou Gehrig was a famous baseball player in the 1920s and 1930s who had ALS.
What are the types of ALS?
There are two types of ALS based on their cause:
- Sporadic ALS: An estimated 90% of all ALS cases are sporadic. This means that the condition happens randomly. It isn’t inherited (passed from biological parents to children).
- Familial ALS: About 10% of ALS cases are familial. A gene change (mutation) causes it. You inherit the gene change from one or both of your biological parents during conception.
How common is ALS?
An estimated 5,000 people in the United States receive an ALS diagnosis each year.
Symptoms
When to see a doctor
Complications
- High blood pressure.
- Diabetes.
- Heart failure.
- Some types of heart valve disease.
Prevention
- Control high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.
- Don't smoke or use tobacco.
- Eat a diet that's low in salt and saturated fat.
- Exercise at least 30 minutes a day on most days of the week unless your health care team says not to.
- Get good sleep. Adults should aim for 7 to 9 hours daily.
- Maintain a healthy weight.
- Reduce and manage stress.
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