Outline:
According to Egans, ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, “a progressive disease degeneration of both upper and lower motor neurons.” ALS prevents the nourishment of muscles, and when muscles are not fed the required nutrients, they atrophy. It hit’s areas of the spinal cord where the nerve cells that signal and control the muscles are located. As the area begins to die, it starts to scar or harden in that region. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. When the motor neurons start to die, the ability of the brain to start and control muscle movement is eventually stopped. With muscle action
…show more content…
It is a very dangerous and unfortunate disease that has no cure at the moment. There are ways to handle and slow down the disease process, and many people learn to deal with the disease. ALS is not one disease; it is a bunch of different types of diseases that lead to ALS. Anything from spinal injury to gene mutations that cause loss of motor skills is considered to be ALS. ALS may be suspected if there is gradual muscle weakness to muscle loss in 1 or more areas of the body. 75% of ALS victims usually start with the stiffening of the limbs. The other 25% is presented with blubar symptoms. ALS can be managed through knowledge of the disease, adaptive or supportive treatments, or mechanism-specific treatment. There are many things that can go wrong when the disease process starts attacking the respiratory parts of a person’s body, such as making it difficult to swallow or even breathe. It’s very unfortunate but there is only one way to prolong life when the respiratory portion of the body is attacked. There is only one outcome to this, and that is making a person’s life with ALS be enjoyable. There is no found cure for this disease; the only thing anyone can do is wait for a cure and look at the positive