ALS Lou Gehrig Disease

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig disease, is a fatal, progressive disease that affects the motor neurons of the body. Attacking the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients lose tendon control and thusly becomes paralyzed (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Association, n. d. ). According to the ALS Association, 15 people are diagnosed with ALS every day and that two per 100,000 people deaths are due to ALS (n. d. ). Patients stricken with the disease has a survival rate of two to five dollar bill historic period from the onset of symptoms (n.d. ).However, with medical researches and breakthroughs, twenty percent of ALS patients total to live for five more years after being diagnosed (n. d. ). ALS is a disease of the middle-age, meaning people falling in the 40-60 years old are more likely to be afflicted (Curtis and McDonald, 1994, p. 1047). In addition, men are more likely to develop ALS than women (p. 1047). Individuals who sit ALS from childhood or early adulthood are obsolescent and may have caught an inherited type of the disease (p.1047). ALS is segment of the motor neuron disorder which causes muscle weakness and cachexia (Forshew and Hulihan, 2002). cachexy is defined as wasting away or loss of muscle (2002). When only the upper neurons are affected, the disorder is known as capital lateral sclerosis (2002). When it is the lower motor neurons, it is called spinal muscular atrophy or progressive muscular atrophy (2002). In the case of ALS, some(prenominal) upper and lower motor neurons are affected.Degeneration of the upper neurons results in hyperreflexia, spasticity and a Babinski reflex while the lower motor neurons result in muscular atrophy, fasciculation or skin twitches and weakness (Cotran, Kumar and Robbins, 1994, p. 1336). French neurologist denim Martin Charcot was the one who initially recognized the disease in 1880s (Forshew and Hulihan, 20 02). The margeination amyotrophic is rooted in Greek and the term can be subdivided into syllables a meaning no or negative, myo pertains to muscle, and trophic for nutrient so in essence, amyotrophic means no muscle nutrient (2002).It can be noted that nutrient in this sense does not pertain to food nourishment, sort of signals coming from motor neurons to the muscles. The terms lateral and sclerosis may to a fault be defined. The upper motor neurons pass through the lateral edges of the spinal cord. When the neurons do not work properly, signals to the muscles are absent, thus the muscles become weak, foreshorten and paralyzed/. When these neurons die, the lateral portions of the spinal cord becomes marked and scarred.Sclerosis is the term utilise in medicine to refer to hardening and scarring (2002). Lateral sclerosis, therefore, is the scarring on the sides of the spinal cord caused by the death of upper motor neurons (2002). Dr. Charcot used the term amyotrophic lateral sclerosis to refer to weakened muscles and scarring of lateral sides in the spinal cord. The figure below illustrates how the nerve cells look like in normal person and an ALS-afflicted individual.