What is ALS?

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord resulting in progressive muscle weakness, atrophy and ultimately, paralysis.

Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With all voluntary muscle action affected, patients in the later stages of the disease become totally paralyzed.

The mean survival time for patients with ALS is three to five years.

Who gets ALS?

A little over 5,600 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with ALS each year - that's 15 new cases a day. It is estimated that as many as 30,000 Americans have the disease at any given time.

ALS can strike anyone. Most people who develop ALS are between the ages of 40 and 70, with an average age of 55 at the time of diagnosis. However, cases of the disease do occur in people in their twenties and thirties.

What are the common symptoms?

Often times the hands and feet are affected first causing difficulty in lifting, walking or using the hands for daily activities such as dressing, washing and buttoning clothes.

The weakening and paralysis continue to spread to the muscles of the rest of the body. Eventually, the disease affects speech, swallowing, chewing and breathing. Ultimately, the patient will need permanent ventilatory support in order to survive.

Since ALS attacks only motor neurons, the senses of sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell are not affected. The patient's mind and thoughts are not affected despite the progressive degenerating condition of the body.

Treating ALS

While there is not a cure or treatment today that halts or reverses ALS, there is one FDA approved drug, Rilutek, that modestly prolongs the life of persons with ALS by at least a few months. There are also other drugs in clinical trials that hold some promise.

Obviously there is a real need for additional research to find a cure for this horrendous disease that robs patients of their self-sufficiency and dignity and cheats their family and friends of time with their loved ones.

Please join us at ART for ALS as we take a stand against ALS by raising awareness, research funds and ultimately, hope for a cure.