Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Lou Gehrig's Disease

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a degenerative neuromuscular disorder that affects the motor neurons of the spinal cord and brain. Due to degeneration or destruction of the motor neurons, muscles throughout the body begin to become weak and waste away to the point that an individual has no muscle movement. In most cases, due to having muscle strength, a patient with ALS will succumb to their disease because of respiratory failure or dehydration and malnutrition. It is a progressive disease with a prognosis of 3 to 5 years after initial diagnosis. There is no cure for the disease as of now. This paper will discuss a more in depth look into the symptoms, diagnosis process, treatment options, medications, prognosis, and ongoing research.

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

“Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth” (“Lou”). This was said by Lou Gehrig in 1939 at his Hall of Fame ceremony (“Lou”). He had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig disease (“ALS”).

For example, Stephen Hawking, one of the world 's leading physicists, was diagnosed with ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, when he was 21 years old. The

In the autobiography, Laughing at my Nightmare, the author, Shane Burcaw, is diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, and the book deals with Burcaw’s life with spinal muscular atrophy. In order to understand spinal muscular atrophy, one must know the causes, the variations of spinal muscular atrophy, as well as the outlook of the disease. To begin with, one of the key concepts of spinal muscular atrophy is the causes of it. According to WebMD, spinal muscular atrophy is a noncommunicable disease, which means that a person with this ailment cannot infect other people with spinal muscular atrophy due to it being heredity.

This disease also breaks down brain cells, which are imperative for everyday functioning and intelligence. Symptoms of this disease include, developmental mental delay, seizures, stiff limbs, Optic atrophy: wasting of a muscle of the eye, resulting in vision difficulties, deafness, irritability, spasms, and ataxia which is the

What is it like to have ALS or a CTE? Either a progressive neurological disease that attacks your motor skills or one that attacks the cognitive parts of the brain. Each one has its own particular attack strategy. On one hand the body is rendered completely motionless while being completely conscious of the outside environment. On the other, the body stays unharmed while it slowly loses the mind, both are equally devastating.

In the final stage of this disease, individuals lose the ability to respond to their environment, to carry on a conversation and,

Watching him struggle to do simple tasks like walk and talk was devastating, but I had to be strong for him. My father required a lot of care as his disease progressed and I was always there for him in every way I could. My dad developed bronchitis eleven months after I received the news of his disorder. For patients with ALS breathing is typically a difficult task, having

There are lots of things in life that people can have control over; several things in life are also uncontrollable. Alzheimer’s disease is in the category of uncontrollable for now. (“Alzheimer’s disease”) is when there is difficulty remembering names and events. It is the most common type of dementia and more than five million Americans are living with the disease. The benefits of Alzheimer 's research is growing as the years pass by.

The disease that Dale Maxin has is known as Parkinson Disease. This disease has affected Dale 's life in a very negative way. It has caused him much grief. Medication helped him to cope with Parkinson for a period of time, however; even the medication has reached a point where it n longer helps. His wife is who he has to depend on with help for everyday things.

“So, I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for,” Lou Gehrig made that as his closing remarks in his “Farwell” speech two weeks after announcing he had ALS (“Farewell”). ALS, or Lou Gerhig’s disease, is a degenerative neurological disease that weakens and, eventually, renders muscles useless and has many other symptoms and causes that are still being discovered, including brain concussions from football and other sports. Described by scientists as far back as 1824, it wasn’t until 1869 when French neurologist Jean-Marie Charcot first wrote and published reports of the characteristics linked to ALS (“About,” ALSA.org) (“About,” Wordpress). It wasn’t until when Lou Gehrig was diagnosed with the disease. In 1938, after having a difficult time with playing baseball, Gehrig visited the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, where he was diagnosed with ALS (“Lou Gehrig”).

What is Multiple Sclerosis: Multiple Sclerosis is primarily a T-cell mediated immune inflammatory disease that disrupts the regular functions of our central nervous system. Our central nervous system, the brain and the spine, are responsible for many of our voluntary and involuntary movements. However, in patients with Multiple Sclerosis, the immune system attacks the myelin sheaths that protect the nerves of the CNS. After repeated attacks, the myelin sheath will fall apart, and the immune cells will continue to attack the nerves themselves, which can be irreversibly damaged.

End They shape their argument in the end by saying how the government does not put nearly as much money as they do towards other diseases and that there is a possible cure in testing. “In March, biotechnology company Biogen unveiled an anti-amyloid called aducanumab, or "adu" — the first drug that has substantially reduced the brain plaque associated with Alzheimer 's in a human trial”. 4. The author uses a serious tone by giving facts that portray the need for a cure.

Alzheimer’s is not a reversible disease. Some people with dementia may only have it from medication side effects, car accidents etc. Alzheimer’s patients are different as they have impaired thought, speech, confusion, and some patients who are in the late stage even lose the ability to talk and swallow. There are 3 stages to this disease progression (ref.1): early, middle, and late. The early stage is when most people confuse basic dementia with Alzheimer’s.