Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

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Imagine being a competitive athlete that can do almost anything and in a matter of seconds never being able to hug love ones or do the simple everyday tasks many take for granted. That’s how life is when a person is diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) it’s a fatal disease that causes a person to lose complete control of their body and constantly need assistance. Having ALS also means having to watch the body deteriorate when the mind is perfectly aware of its own demise. Being diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive degenerative disease caused by multiple severe concussions to the head. CTE is a disease that leads to many other abnormalities and only can be diagnosed after death. A concussion is …show more content…

Researchers began to wonder what caused this awful disease and how it could be cured. Technology has completely evolved since the diagnosis of Lou Gherig now with modern medicine it has been realized that there are reasons become about. Most cases are caused by multiple brain trauma, and the other is simply genetic. The cruelest part of ALS is that as the body begins to fail and no longer has any function the mind is aware and can do nothing but watch it’s own destruction. Steve Smith a running back for the Oakland Raiders he was diagnosed with ALS and has been put on a ventilator to be able to breathe and his wife is now his full time nurse. Smith played for the NFL for 9 years and constantly impacted force on his head while playing. He has lived 13 years with ALS he has surpassed the common years which is “3”.
Due to the mental stress a person with ALS has, they become extremely depressed. There has yet to be a cure for ALS or even a prevention method to stop this wicked disease from …show more content…

It was a miserable year in 2001,the NFL reported 900 concussions that year still nothing was done to change this unbearable outcome. Now more people are aware of the seriousness of receiving a concussion and should be required to take the baseline test to determine if the athlete is still eligible to play. Recent studies have shown females are more likely to suffer a concussion than men due to how fragile their neck is making the impact to the head extremely severe. Soccer has the highest rate of concussions due to the brutal impact the ball has when it reaches the player head this could be vital if the player repeatedly undergoes the same position. Thinking, speaking,or any type of brain activity can be crucial to recovering the mind must be at complete

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