
Age-Although the disease can strike at any age, symptoms most commonly develop between the ages of 55 and 75.Who is more likely to get amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)? However, about 10 percent of people with ALS survive for a decade or more. Experience problems with language or decision-makingĪLS doesn't affect your ability to taste, touch, or smell, or hear. Most people with ALS die from respiratory failure, usually within three to five years from when the symptoms first appear.Anxiety and depression, because people with ALS usually remain able to reason, remember, understand, and are aware of their progressive loss of functionĪlthough not as common, people with ALS may also:.Muscle cramps and neuropathy (nerve damage or disease).


Eventually, the brain loses its ability to initiate and control voluntary movements. As motor neurons degenerate and die, they stop sending messages to the muscles, which causes the muscles to weaken, start to twitch (fasciculations), and waste away (atrophy). ALS has no cure and there is no effective treatment to reverse its progression.ĪLS is a type of motor neuron disease. The disease is progressive, meaning the symptoms get worse over time. Voluntary muscles are those we choose to move to produce movements like chewing, walking, and talking. What is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)?Īmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, is a rare neurological disease that affects motor neurons-those nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement.
