Biological sex—Males are slightly more likely to develop ALS. However, as people age the difference between the sexes disappears. Race and ethnicity—Caucasians and non-Hispanics are most likely to develop the disease, but ALS affects people of all races and ethnic backgrounds.
Most people who develop ALS are between the ages of 40 and 70, with an average age of 55 at the time of diagnosis. However, cases of the disease do occur in people in their twenties and thirties. ALS is 20% more common in men than women.
ALS is more common in men than women. ALS is age related; most people find out they have it when they are between 55 and 75 years of age, and live from 2 to 5 years after symptoms develop. How long a person lives with ALS seems to be related to age; people who are younger when the illness starts live slightly longer.
Using a variety of data-gathering techniques and statistical analyses, they have published a number of studies that, while displaying some variation, support the conclusion that roughly 1 in every 400 people will develop ALS in their lifetime.
Get Regular Exercise
When combined with a healthy diet rich in antioxidants, exercise can reduce the risk of Lou Gehrig's disease. Gentle exercises such as swimming, gardening, and yoga can help seniors stay in shape and prevent ALS.
Summary. There is no way to prevent ALS. However, there are interventions available that can slow the progression of the disease, help an individual maintain independence as long as possible, and reduce pain and discomfort that can occur as the disease progresses.
And you're right; it takes on average about nine to 12 months for someone to be diagnosed with ALS, from the time they first began to notice symptoms. Getting the proper evaluation in a timely way is important, especially since we have a drug, Rilutek, which has been shown to help delay the progression of ALS.
The rates of ALS seem to be increasing slightly, although it's hard to say why; part of the reason is thought to be that people are simply living longer, and that doctors are getting better at diagnosing it.
ALS is fatal. The average life expectancy after diagnosis is two to five years, but some patients may live for years or even decades. (The famous physicist Stephen Hawking, for example, lived for more than 50 years after he was diagnosed.) There is no known cure to stop or reverse ALS.
In Australia, while ALS is uncommon, it certainly isn't rare. Recent statistics show there are more than 2,000 people in the country currently diagnosed with the disease, and a further two are diagnosed each day, or around 730 people each year.
Most of the time ALS is not inherited. In about 90% of cases, the person diagnosed is the only member of the family with the disease. These cases are called “sporadic ALS”. The cause of sporadic ALS is not well understood, but may be due to a combination of environmental and genetic risk factors.
Where are most cases of ALS? In the U.S., the Midwest currently has the largest number of people with ALS (at 5.5 cases per 100,000 population). Researchers have also found that the prevalence rates of ALS are highest in Uruguay, New Zealand, and the United States.
Fortunately, ALS is a rare condition. There are about 2 new cases per 100,000 Americans each year. “This leads to about 5,000 people in the U.S. having ALS at any one time,” says Robert Gordon Kalb, MD.
There is a uniqueness in care management, time effectiveness, and determination of quality of life for ALS patients. The distinctiveness of those aspects makes ALS all the rarer. National and world-wide organizations will be promoting forums and events to raise awareness of rare diseases in our population.
And one study works backwards, finding that those working in "production" – fields such as manufacturing, welding and chemical operation – who are exposed to hazardous chemicals on the job, may have increased risk of developing ALS.
The causes of ALS are unknown at present, but researchers are focusing on several possible theories, including gene mutations, overabundance of the neurotransmitter glutamate (which can be toxic to nerve cells), autoimmune response (in which the body's immune system attacks normal cells) and the gradual accumulation of ...
Researchers have hypothesized that vigorous physical activity might increase exposure to environmental toxins, facilitate the transport of toxins to the brain, increase the absorption of toxins, or increase the athlete''''s susceptibility to motor neuron disease through added physical stress.
On the other hand, some evidence has shown the protective effect of mild physical exercise in ALS. Studies performed on G93A-SOD1 transgenic mice have demonstrated that moderate running-based training increased their survival rate by delaying the onset of disease [22,23].
The disease is progressive, meaning the symptoms get worse over time. ALS has no cure and there is no effective treatment to reverse its progression.
However, progressive muscle weakness and paralysis are universally experienced. A gradual onset of progressive muscle weakness – which is generally painless – is the most common initial symptom in ALS.
In the course of the study, the authors came to the conclusion that a vitamin B1 deficiency causes oxidative stress and a disturbance in the concentration of intracellular calcium, which may be one of the reasons for the development of ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases [15].
The AIDS virus can cause a version of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, that can be treated effectively with antiretroviral drugs, according to two studies reported in the 25 September issue of Neurology.