How does a person get ALS?

Familial (Genetic) ALS About 5 to 10 percent of all ALS cases are familial, which means that an individual inherits the disease from a parent. The familial form of ALS usually only requires one parent to carry the disease-causing gene. Mutations in more than a dozen genes have been found to cause familial ALS.

What causes Lu garrix disease?

“Familial”, ALS suggests the disease is inherited, although no heredity pattern exists in the majority of ALS cases. About 5 to 10 percent of all ALS patients appear to have a genetic or inherited component. In those families, 50 percent of the all offspring are expected to have the disease.

What are usually the first signs of ALS?

ALS often begins with muscle twitching and weakness in a limb, or slurred speech. Eventually, ALS affects control of the muscles needed to move, speak, eat and breathe. There is no cure for this fatal disease.

What triggers ALS disease?

The exact cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is largely unknown, but genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors are all believed to play a role. The neurodegenerative disease is characterized by the death of motor neurons, which are the nerve cells that control muscle movements.

Is ALS 100% fatal?

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.

What is the life expectancy of a person with ALS?

Although the mean survival time with ALS is two to five years, some people live five years, 10 years or even longer. Symptoms can begin in the muscles that control speech and swallowing or in the hands, arms, legs or feet.

Can ALS come on suddenly?

As I have mentioned before, ALS does not start abruptly. Consider Lou Gehrig. At first he never dreamed he had a disease.

Who gets ALS the most?

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.