Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease Amyotrophic LateralSclerosis

amyo

trophiclateral

sclerosis

“without”“muscle”“nourishment”“side (of the spinal cord)”“hardening” or “scarring”

Amyotrophic means that the muscles in the body are losing nourishment. When muscles lose nourshment, they become weaker and smaller.

what’s in a name ?

So,

Did you walk to school today? Eat lunch? Breathe? All of these things become difficult when you have ALS.

When the messages reach the muscles, they tell the muscles

how to move

WITHOUT ALS motor neurons

exist in the brain and spinal cord

motor neuronsstart to break down, and eventually die

Because the motor neurons are not sending the brain’s

messages to the muscles, the person

cannot move

If the motor neurons are dead, the braincan’t send signals to the muscles

motor neurons pass messages from the brain

to the muscles

WITH ALS

Motor neurons are nerve cells that control muscle movement

(They aren’t quite like trucks. They don’t move.)

30,000Americans have ALS at this very moment -

That’s almost enough people to fill Fenway Park during a game.

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LOU GEHRIG

Stephen Hawking

Lou Gehrig, a New York Yankees German-American baseball player, is the a famous figure in history to have been diagnosed with ALS.l

One of the most common names for ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease,

Stephen Hawking is an English physicist at the University of Cambridge. He was diagnosed at the age of 21, but lives today, at the age of 71.

1903-1941

1942-

who has ALS?

Most people who develop ALS arebetween the ages of 40 and 70

Patients are expected to live 2-5 years longer after they are diagnosed.

ALS occursthroughout the

world

without racial ethnic

socioeconomic

boundaries

however,

WHO develops

als?

so how do people get ALS ?

No one is really sure.

Some people have ideas.the good news

the bad news

Some scientists from Johns Hop- kins Universtiy say that ALS has a

lot to do with something called

neurotransmitters neurotransmitters

are a lot like your iPhone, but instead of sending iMessages to friends, they send messages to

specific cells

just like text messages

too many neurotransmitters is a bad thing.

)You want to have just the right amount(

1 An electrical signal

enters the

AXON

NEUROTRANSMITTERSa r e h e l d i n s i d eVESICLES

2 The signal causes theVESICLE

to release the

NEUROTRANSMITTERS

3 The other cell receives the

NEUROTRANSMITTERSand the message

how NEUROTRANSMITTERS work

how NEUROTRANSMITTERS workWITH ALS

The scientists think that sometimes, in some

people, there are too many glutamate

neurotransmitters

too many neurotransmitters is a bad thing. Remember?

glutamate is just one type of

NEUROTRANSMITTER) (

Long story short=

This causes achain effect

That KILLS

motor neurons

And if motor neurons are dead, muscles

cannotmove

does this sound familiar ?(Hint: check back to the second page!)

I have had motor neuron disease for

practically all my adult life. Yet

it has not prevented me from having a very attractive family

and being successful in my work...

I have been luckythat my condition has progressed

more slowly than is often the case.

But it shows that

one need not lose hope.

Stephen Hawkingonce said

There is a lot that is still unknown about ALS, and life with ALS can be hard. But

there’s hope.

“

“

Jane ChungSLS 112013