MIAMISBURG -- Dr. Bryan Ludwig, MD, a neurointerventionalist at the Premier Health's Clinical Neuroscience Institute, talks about ALS, its effect on society, how many people it afflicts and why research is important.
Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is often referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease. It is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.
About 5,600 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with the disease each year. It is estimated that 30,000 Americans may have the disease at any given time. The average ALS patient lives for up to two to five years after diagnosis.
ALS is a sporadic disease and can affect anyone. It has no racial, ethnic or socioeconomic boundaries.
Symptoms include:
* Muscle weakness in one or more of the following: hands, arms, legs or muscles of speech, swallowing or breathing.
* Twitching and cramping of muscles, especially in hands and feet
* Impairment of the use of arms and legs
* "Thick speech" and difficulty projecting the voice
