Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis 1 Running head: AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease, which affects the cells in the central nervous system. It is called Lou Gehrig’s disease because of the famous baseball star that passed away from the disease. In 1874, doctors became aware of ALS. J.M. Charcol, a French physician, was the first to identify the disease (Mayfield 1996). Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis usually affects people ranging from age forty to sixty (Palmieri 2005). More men than women are affected, and death usually occurs within three to five years, due to respiratory failure (Palmieri 2005). The wasting away of anterior horn cells and the replacing of motor neurons by fibrous astrocytes, results in the hardening of the anterior and lateral columns of the spinal cord. Atrophic changes are located in the premotor and motor cortex of the brain. The peripheral nerves show degeneration of myelin and axons. The motor axons that survive grow side by side branches to try to regain nerve control. Cellular abnormalities have been noted, but are not a unique characteristic of ALS (Walling 1999). The upper motor neurons (UMNs) and the lower motor neurons (LMNs) are both dysfunctional in ALS. The lower motor neurons cause paralysis, muscle atrophy, and flaccidity