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Facts About ALS

Facts About ALS. Symptoms. muscle weakness in one or more of the following: hands, arms, legs or the muscles of speech, swallowing or breathing twitching (fasciculation) and cramping of muscles, especially those in the hands and feet . Symptoms. impairment of the use of the arms and legs

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Facts About ALS

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  1. Facts About ALS

  2. Symptoms • muscle weakness in one or more of the following: hands, arms, legs or the muscles of speech, swallowing or breathing • twitching (fasciculation) and cramping of muscles, especially those in the hands and feet

  3. Symptoms • impairment of the use of the arms and legs • "thick speech" and difficulty in projecting the voice • in more advanced stages, shortness of breath, difficulty in breathing and swallowing

  4. Symptoms • Since ALS attacks only motor neurons, the sense of sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell are not affected. • The rate at which ALS progresses can be quite variable from one person to another. The average survival time with ALS is 3 to 5 years; many live 5 to 10 years

  5. Who Gets ALS? • 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. 

  6. Who Gets ALS? • 60% of the people with ALS are men and 93% of patients are Caucasian. • Most people who develop ALS are between the ages of 40 and 70, with an average age of 55 at the time of diagnosis.

  7. Who Gets ALS? • Half of all people affected with ALS live at least three or more years after diagnosis. Twenty percent live five years or more; up to ten percent will live more than ten years. • Researchers are working with drugs that may help ALS patients, though nothing is proven at this point

  8. Who Gets ALS? • 90 to 95% of all ALS patients develop the disease for no apparent reason (like family history) • Basically ALS can effect anyone, anywhere

  9. Bibliography • All information in this PowerPoint can be found on http://www.alsa.org

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