ALS
Also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, motor neuron disease, bulbar, Lou Gehrig disease, Charcot disease, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, motor neurone disease, MND
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or '''Lou Gehrig's disease''', is a rare terminal neurodegenerative disease defined by the progressive loss of both upper and lower motor neurons that normally control voluntary muscle contraction. ALS is the most common of the motor neuron diseases. ALS often presents in its early stages with gradual muscle stiffness, twitches, weakness, and wasting. Motor neuron loss typically continues until the ability to eat, speak, move, and breathe without mechanical support is lost. It is estimated that at least 50% of people
AI overview
ALS (also called Lou Gehrig's disease) is a rare and serious disease where nerve cells controlling voluntary muscles gradually die, causing progressive weakness and wasting of muscles throughout the body. Over time, people with ALS lose the ability to move, speak, eat, and breathe on their own, making it a terminal condition with no cure.
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Key facts
- Medical condition.name
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- Medical condition.image
- ALS Affected neurons and muscles.png
- Medical condition.caption
- Parts of the nervous system affected by ALS, causing progressive symptoms in skeletal muscles throughout the body
- Medical condition.field
- Neurology
- Medical condition.symptoms
- Early: Stiff muscles, muscle twitches, gradual increasing weakness Late: Difficulty in speaking, swallowing, and breathing; respiratory failure; Rare: frontotemporal dementia
- Medical condition.complications
- Falling; Respiratory failure; Pneumonia; Malnutrition
- Medical condition.onset
- 45–75 years
- Medical condition.causes
- Unknown (90% to 95%) or genetic (5% to 10%)
- Medical condition.risks
~56 min read
Article
37 sectionsContents
- Classification
- Subtypes of disease
- Regionally isolated variants
- Age of onset
- Signs and symptoms
- Initial symptoms
- Progression
- Late-stage disease management
- Prognosis, staging, and survival
- Cognitive, emotional, and behavioral symptoms
- Cause
- Genetics and genetic testing
- Environmental and other factors
- Viruses and retrotransposons
- Autoimmune processes
- Pathophysiology
- Neuropathology
- Biochemistry
- Diagnosis
- Differential diagnosis
- Management
- Medications
- Disease-slowing treatments
- Symptomatic treatments
- Breathing support
- Non-invasive ventilation
- Invasive ventilation
- Therapy
- Nutrition
- End-of-life care
- Epidemiology
- History
- Diagnostic criteria
- Name
- Society and culture
- References
- External links
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or '''Lou Gehrig's disease''', is a rare terminal neurodegenerative disease defined by the progressive loss of both upper and lower motor neurons that normally control voluntary muscle contraction. ALS is the most common of the motor neuron diseases. ALS often presents in its early stages with gradual muscle stiffness, twitches, weakness, and wasting. Motor neuron loss typically continues until the ability to eat, speak, move, and breathe without mechanical support is lost. It is estimated that at least 50% of people with ALS experience significant changes in thinking and behavior, with 15% of individuals going on to develop frontotemporal dementia. An ALS diagnosis is made based on a person's signs and symptoms, with additional testing conducted to rule out other potential causes. Depending on which areas of the body are affected first, ALS may be classified as limb-onset (beginning with weakness in the arms or legs) or bulbar-onset (beginning with difficulty in speaking or swallowing). Respiratory onset occurs in approximately 1%–3% of cases.
Most cases of ALS (about 90–95%) have no known cause and are known as sporadic ALS. genetic, autoimmune, and environmental factors are believed to be involved in the onset of ALS. Approximately 5–10% of ALS cases have a known genetic cause and often linked to a family history of ALS; such cases are known as familial ALS or hereditary ALS. Four disease-linked genes are responsible for approximately half of all genetic cases.