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Fast Facts About ALS courtesy
of the National
Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), sometimes called Lou Gehrig's
disease, is a rapidly progressive, invariably fatal neurological
disease that attacks the nerve cells (neurons) responsible
for controlling voluntary muscles.
- Most people with ALS die from respiratory failure,
usually within 3 to 5 years from the onset of symptoms.
However, about 10 percent of ALS patients survive for
10 or more years.
- According to NINDS as many as 20,000 Americans
have ALS, and an estimated 5,000 people in the United
States are diagnosed with the disease each year. However
the ALS Association states that based on U.S. population
studies, a little over 5,600 people in the U.S. are
diagnosed with ALS each year. (That's 15 new cases
a day.) It is estimated that as many as 30,000 Americans
have the disease at any given time.
- ALS most commonly strikes people between 40 and 60
years of age, but younger and older people also can develop
the disease. Men are affected more often than women.
- The cause of ALS is not known and there is no cure.
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