Facts About ALS

According to ALS Association website and online sources:

• - Each year over 5,000 Americans are diagnosed with ALS.
• - From the time is diagnosis the life expectancy is between two to five years.
• - Only 20% live five and more years and 10 % more than ten years.
• - The symptoms are muscle weakness in the legs and arms, difficulty, speaking, chewing and swallowing. As the disease is progressing one is loosing coordination, has respiratory difficulties while their intellectual capacity is not affected.
• - It affects the part of the nervous system that controls voluntary movements.
• - The disease is affecting more the male population but with an equal rates at an older age offset.
• - The average age when the disease can strike is 55.
• - Around 10% of the cases are hereditary and remaining 90% are random.
• - ALS is as twice as high to develop for military veterans located during the Gulf War.
• - ALS has no cure since the causes are unknown and the only drug approved by FDA to ameliorate the disease for a few months is Riluzole

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