Know about ALS now by Dr Gautam Arora

ALS is short for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. You might also have heard it called Lou Gehrig’s disease, after the baseball player who was diagnosed with it in the 1930s. A French doctor named Jean-Martin Charcot discovered the condition in 1869.

ALS is a progressive disease, which means it gets worse over time. It affects nerves in your brain and spinal cord that control your muscles. As your muscles get weaker, it gets harder for you to walk, talk, eat, and breathe.

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 demise.

When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. When voluntary muscle action is progressively affected, people may lose the ability to speak, eat, move and breathe.

The motor nerves affected when you have ALS are the motor neurons that provide voluntary movements and muscle control. Examples of voluntary movements are making the effort to reach for a smartphone or step off a curb. These actions are controlled by the muscles in the arms and legs.

ALS was Discovered in 1869. While ALS can affect anyone, anywhere, at any time, there are two different ways cases are categorized.

• For about 90% of all cases, there’s no known family history of the disease or presence of a genetic mutation linked to ALS.
• For 5-10% of all cases, there’s a known family history of the disease. This is often called familial ALS.
• Risk factors. Established risk factors for ALS include:
• Heredity. Five to 10 percent of the people with ALS inherited it (familial ALS). In most people with familial ALS, their children have a 50-50 chance of developing the disease.
• Age. ALS risk increases with age, and is most common between the ages of 40 and the mid-60s.
• Sex. Before the age of 65, slightly more men than women develop ALS. This sex difference disappears after age 70.
• Genetics. Some studies examining the entire human genome found many similarities in the genetic variations of people with familial ALS and some people with noninherited ALS. These genetic variations might make people more susceptible to ALS.
• Diagnosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is difficult to diagnose early because it can mimic other neurological diseases. Tests to rule out other conditions might include:

1. Electromyogram (EMG). 
2. Nerve conduction study. 
3. MRI.
4. Blood and urine tests.
5. Spinal tap (lumbar puncture).
6. Muscle biopsy​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Treatment: For treatment options consult a Neurologist

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