ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as motor neurone disease or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary... Wikipedia

• Specialty:  Neurology
• Symptoms:  Early: Stiff muscles, muscle twitches, gradual increasing weakness, Later: Difficulty in speaking, swallowing, and breathing, respiratory failure 10-15% experience frontotemporal dementia
• Usual onset:  45 – 75 years
• Causes:  Unknown (about 85%), genetic (about 15%)
• Risk factors:  Genetic risk factors, age, male sex, heavy metals, organic chemicals, smoking, electric shock, physical exercise, head injury
• Diagnostic method:  Clinical diagnosis of exclusion based on progressive symptoms of upper and lower motor neuron degeneration in which no other explanation can be found. Supportive evidence from electromyography, genetic testing, and neuroimaging
• Differential diagnosis:  Multifocal motor neuropathy, Kennedy's disease, Hereditary spastic paraplegia, Nerve compression syndrome, Diabetic neuropathy, Post-polio syndrome, Myasthenia gravis, Multiple sclerosis
• Medication:  Riluzole, Edaravone, Sodium phenylbutyrate/ursodoxicoltaurine, Tofersen, Dextromethorphan/quinidine
• Treatment:  Walker (mobility), Wheelchair, Non-invasive ventilation, Feeding tube, Augmentative and alternative communication, symptomatic management
• Frequency:  Incidence: 1.6/100,000 individuals per year, Prevalence: 4.4/100,000 living individuals Lifetime risk, 1 in 400 individuals
• Data source:  DuckDuckGo