AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS (ALS)
WHAT IS ALS ?
- ALS, is a nervous system (neurological) disease that causes muscle weakness and impacts physical function.
- ALS is often called Lou Gehrig’s disease, after the famous baseball player who was diagnosed with it.
- ALS is a type of motor neuron disease that causes nerve cells to gradually break down and die.
- In the United States, ALS is sometimes called motor neuron disease.
- In most cases, doctors don’t know why ALS occurs.
- A small number of cases are inherited.
- ALS often begins with muscle twitching and weakness in an arm or leg, or sometimes with slurring of speech.
- Eventually, ALS can affect your ability to control the muscles needed to move, speak, eat and breathe.
- ALS can’t be cured and eventually leads to death.
EFFECTS OF ALS:
- The body has many kinds of nerves. There are those involved in the process of thinking, memory, and of detecting sensations (such as hot/cold, sharp/dull), and others for vision, hearing, and other bodily functions.
- The nerves that are affected when you have ALS are the motor neurons that provide voluntary movements and muscle power. The heart and the digestive system are also made of muscle but a different kind, and their movements are not under voluntary control.
- When your heart beats or a meal is digested, it all happens automatically.
- Therefore, the heart and digestive system are not involved in ALS.
- Breathing also may seem to be involuntary.
TREATMENT OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR ALS :
- There is no definitive cure for motor neuron disease in India or in any country.
- Medications and therapy can lower motor neuron disease progression which can be considered as a form of MND cure in India.
- There are some medications in the market which have proven to slow the disease considerably and should be taken as advised by the specialist.
- Undergoing surgery should be avoided as much as possible and only to be approached as a last resort.
SYLLABUS: PRELIMS, MAINS, GS-3: HEALTH
