Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Define | Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Cause | Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Symptoms and Treatment

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Define | Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Cause | Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Symptoms and Treatment

You must have heard about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS disease. In 1930 a baseball player was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. It was discovered by a French doctor in 1869

The drawback of this disease is, it gets worse over time. The muscles which are controlled by the brain and spinal cord are affected. You may feel shortness of breath, hard to walk, eating issues, and difficulty talking.

Motor Neurons Disease ALS
Motor Neurons are been affected by this disease. The signals are been send from the brain to the spinal cord and then toward the muscles. There are two main types of motor neurons:
Upper Motor Neurons: Brain nerve cells
Lower Motor Neurons: Spinal cord to muscle nerve cells

The voluntary movements have been controlled by Motor neurons, which include the face, arms, and legs muscles. These send signals so that the muscles contract and you are able to walk, run, chew, breathe, and perform physical activities. 
Other Motor Neuron Diseases include:
1. (PLS) Primary Lateral Sclerosis
2. (PBP) Progressive bulbar palsy
3. (PP) pseudobulbar palsy

Precautions if suffering from ALS - ALS Precautions
You may collapse, in cases if you experience motor neuron breakdown. The reason is muscles don’t get signals and may become weak and will not be able to send messages to the brain. This is called atrophy when muscles don’t work and you may not be able to move. 

In the beginning, the muscles get stiffer and weak. And you may feel stressed while doing movements such as holding a key or tucking your shirt. And you start to fall often, due to feeling unconscious. Then after a while, you feel difficult to move your body.

Ultimately the people experiencing ALS might unable to control their diaphragm, and they may find difficulty in breathing. They would need a breathing machine as they will not be able to breathe on their own.

This way people may find it hard to survive and may die within 3 to 5 years after they are identified. But on the other hand, there are people who still survive more than 10 years with the disease.

People diagnosed with ALS have all their senses, sight, smell, taste, and touch. But the disease may affect memory as well as decision-making skill.

According to studies ALS is not curable. 

Types of ALS
Typically there are two types of ALS
The most common form is known as sporadic ALS: almost 95% of people are affected due to the disease. This form happens sometimes and the cause is not clear. 

Familial ALS (FALS) runs in genes. Familial ALS is only a 5% to 10% group of people. Usually in this case the parents transfer the faulty gene to their kids. If one of the parents is suffering from ALS, then their children are at greater risk by up to 50%. 

What are the causes of ALS? What Type Of Disease Is ALS
Researchers are still working on the causes of motor neurons. Most probably there are 5% to 10% chances of gene changes and mutations. Multiple different gene changes are linked to ALS.

SOD1 is a protein that is formed due to gene change. This is a toxic protein for motor neurons. Similarly, other gene changes in ALS may also harm motor neurons.
Environment plays a more significant role in ALS. Researchers are still working on whether people who are directly in contact with harmful germs and chemicals and are more likely to get the disease. Let’s suppose the people who are serving in the military during the 1991 Gulf War suffered more ALS than usual.

Other possible causes may be:
Glutamate: Glutamate transfers the signal to the brain and nerves. This is also known as a neurotransmitter. Glutamate forms spaces surrounding nerve cells and may cause harm.

Symptoms Of A Bad Immune System - Auto Immune Disorder Symptoms: The immune system guards the body against bacteria and viruses. Microglia is the main immunity cell in your brain. These may destroy bacteria and damaged cells. If suffering from ALS your healthy motor neurons will be damaged by microglia.

Mitochondria Issues. The part of cells where energy is made is known as mitochondria. And when there is a problem with mitochondria may make the case worse.

Oxidative stress: cells are been used to make energy. The oxygen used to make energy in the body may become toxic substances known as free radicals that may harm cells. 
Many people suffering from ALS go through multiple proportions of upper and lower neurons. The result may vary from person to person, and how the disease progresses and affects more nerve cells as time passes.