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Every 90 minutes, someone is diagnosed with ALS, and someone passes away from it.

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. However, with increasing age, the incidence of ALS is more equal between men and women.

About 90% of ALS cases occur without any known family history or genetic cause. The remaining 10% of ALS cases are inherited through a mutated gene with a known connection to the disease.

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

Some famous individuals you may know of who have been diagnosed with ALS include:

  • Baseball great Lou Gehrig
  • Physicist Stephen Hawking
  • “SpongeBob SquarePants” creator Stephen Hillenburg
  • “Sesame Street” creator Jon Stone
  • U.S. Senator Jacob Javits
  • MLB player Jim “Catfish” Hunter
  • NFL football player Steve McMichael (Chicago Bears)
  • NFL football player Steve Gleason (New Orleans Saints)
  • NFL football player Dwight Clark (San Francisco 49ers)
  • NFL football player Tim Shaw (Tennessee Titans)
  • NFL football player O.J. Brigance (Baltimore Ravens)