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ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

”Amyotrophic” comes from the Greek language. “A” means no. “Myo” refers to muscle. “Trophic” means nourishment. So, amyotrophic means “no muscle nourishment,” and when a muscle has no nourishment, it “atrophies” or wastes away.

“Lateral” identifies the areas in a person’s spinal cord where portions of the nerve cells that signal and control the muscles are located.

As this area degenerates, it leads to scarring or hardening (“sclerosis”) in the region.

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.

French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot discovered ALS 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.

In families with familial ALS, there is a 50% chance each offspring will inherit the gene mutation and may develop the disease.

For unknown reasons, military veterans are more likely to be diagnosed with the disease than the general public.

A wealth of new scientific understanding about the physiology of ALS has occurred in recent years. There are currently seven drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat ALS and its symptoms, however 3 of these drugs are different formulations of the same drug, Riluzole, which was the first drug approved by the FDA over 25 years ago. These drugs are:

  • Qalsody
  • Relyvrio
  • Radicava
  • Rilutek (riluzole)
  • Tiglutik (riluzole)
  • Exservan (riluzole)
  • Nuedexta (treats certain side effects of ALS but not any of the core defects)

Studies to develop more treatments and a cure for ALS, many funded by The ALS Association, are ongoing around the world. Scientists have made significant progress in understanding how the disease works, identifying biological indicators that can help diagnose and treat the disease, and learning ways to prevent cases of ALS.

In addition, people living with ALS may experience a better quality of life by participating in patient support groups and seeking treatment at an established ALS Multidisciplinary Clinic (or ALS Center of Excellence) where some of the top ALS experts in the world focus on the early diagnosis and treatment of ALS. Such Centers provide a national standard of best-practice multidisciplinary care to help manage the symptoms of the disease and help people living with ALS live on their own terms for as long as possible.

According to many published papers & clinical studies, those people living with ALS that are treated at an ALS  Multidisciplinary Clinic may have prolonged survival and improved quality of life.