Familial Als The Disease example essay topic

ALS is actually Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, but it is commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. It comes from greek words meaning: A-without; Myo-muscle; Trophic-nourishment; Lateral-side (of the spinal cord); and Sclerosis-hardening or scarring. This disease is a rare ailment where the body's neurons die, causing the muscles in your body to waste away and become paralyzed. ALS is not contagious, however at least 10% of ALS cases are hereditary. 30,000 Americans face the grim prospect of spending their final days feeling virtually buried alive as they go through the terrible effects of ALS. This disease was named after a Yankee slugger who died at age 36 in 1941 from this disease.

Lou Gehrig was a famous baseball player in the US during the 1930's. He became afflicted with ALS at age 36, just 2 years after being diagnosed. Tony Cortina's is an ALS patient. He was diagnosed with ALS in 1997 and since then has lost the use of his arms and hands and, at 54, is showing signs of advanced ALS: respiratory problems, frequent choking, nearly unintelligible speech. This disease does not just affect a single person, it affects everybody in that person's life. ALS attacks nerve cells in the brain as well as the spinal cord, which controls muscle movement.

The motor neurons shut down and die; victims lose more and more of their ability to move. It affects speech and swallowing when the disease involves the corticobulbar area of the brainstem. Death of this disease comes when the chest muscles can no longer force air in and out of the respiratory tract or when food becomes stuck in the lungs, causing aspiration pneumonia, which usually comes 2-5 years after the disease is diagnosed. Some of the first signs of ALS are in the inability to do simple tasks, such as turn a door knob or button a shirt. Other early symptoms including tripping, dropping things, abnormal fatigue of the arms and / or legs, slurred speech, muscle cramps and twitches and uncontrollable periods of laughing or crying. The hands and feet may be affected first, causing difficulty in walking or using the hands for the activities of daily living such as dressing, washing and buttoning clothes.

The condition starts on one side of the body, then moves to the other side. Your muscles begin to degenerate, and the person loses weight. Soon they lose their ability to swallow or sometimes even to breath. Because the disease frequently takes it toll before being positively diagnosed, many patients are debilitated before learning that they have ALS. ALS does not affect the mind. Mental acuity remains sharp.

In most cases, even when the patient is totally paralyzed, the mind functions normally. The mind remains alert, but they are trapped in a withering body. There is no cure for ALS, but there are treatments for controlling symptoms. One drug is ril azole, which has been shown to prolong survival of ALS patients.

Antispasmodic drugs, such as diazepam, are available as are drugs to help patients that have problems with swallowing. When your muscles fail to receive messages, they weaken, atrophy, and die. It affects about 7 to 8 people out of every 100,000. According to the United States National Institute of Health, some 5,000 people in the US are newly diagnosed with ALS each year (that's 13 a day! ). Anyone at any age can get ALS; however most who develop ALS are somewhere between the ages of 40 and 70.

There are though; however, cases of the disease attacking persons in their twenties and thirties. It was once believed men developed ALS more frequently than women. 90% of ALS cases are people with no family history of this disease. ALS is almost always fatal. There are rare cases where the disease progression plateaus or stops. There are few cases of people reporting a reversal of symptoms.

ALS was first discovered in scientific literature in 1869 by the French Neurologist, Jean-Martin Charcot. ALS and Lou Gehrig's Disease are not the only names for this disease. Some other names are MND, Motor Neuron Disease known by the England. The French refer to ALS as Maladie de Charcot.

People with ALS usually die within 18 months after diagnosis. Only about 20% survive 5 years, and 10% live longer than 10 years. The cause of ALS is unknown. Researchers know that an excess of a neurotransmitter called glutamate clogs the synapse of the nerve cell preventing transmission of neural impulses.

Some of the effects of ALS may be painful. Common pains include pressure sores, muscle cramps, joint contractures, constipation, burning eyes, swelling feet, and muscle aches. ALS is diagnosed through a process of elimination and may take weeks or months to diagnose. Diagnostic tests include MRI, EMG, muscle biopsy and blood tests. There are three different types of ALS. The most common type is called sporadic ALS.

This one accounts for 90% of ALS cases. Familial ALS is hereditary, which is passed on by a dominant gene. In familial ALS the disease is autonomic dominant, meaning that if a parent has ALS, their children have a 50% chance of inheriting the defective gene. The third type of ALS is called Guam ian and is related to the high incidence of ALS on the island of Guam. ALS does affect your speech when the disease involves the corticabulbar area of the brainstem. ALS is a very expensive disease.

Medication, such as Rilutek can cost as much as $700.00 per month. Also, adaptive equipment is usually necessary, such as a power wheelchair, costing as much as $17,000. When a patient goes on a ventilator, skilled nursing care can cost in excess of $250,000 a year. Insurance companies, Medicaid and Medicare may pay some of the expenses for the patient. REFERENCE PAGE ALS (Lou Gehrig Disease) Information Page web The Esh lem Family. ALS Survival Guide.

2002. web Wag man, Richard J. "Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis" The New Complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia. 2002.392-293..