Theamyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)It is commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease and it is a progressive neurological disease. It affects muscle movement by preventing the nerves that control these movements from working properly.
As time passes, dysfunctional nerves cause muscle weakness and gradually weakened muscles causeparalysis.
The later stages of ALS can affect breathing and other crucial bodily functions, which can lead to death. This is because the nerves that control these functions are severely affected by the disease.
Difference between EM and ELA
Both Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and ALS are neurodegenerative diseases that affect the central nervous system, namely the brain and spinal cord. In many cases, the two diseases have similar symptoms, such as muscle weakness and paralysis. Unfortunately, neither disease has a cure, but both can be treated.
Despite their similarities, there are some important differences between the two diseases.
For example,ALS is more common in men than womenand appears in any age range between 4 and 70 years. In contrast, multiple sclerosis is more common in women and generally occurs between the ages of 20-50.
Some additional basic differences between the two diseases include that ALS often causes paralysis, whereas MS can – but not always – cause complete wasting; ALS is primarily physical, while MS also causes mental problems, such as memory loss; ALS is not an autoimmune disease. In contrast, experts believe that many forms of MS are autoimmune.
Who discovered this neurological disease?
We can find the first signs of ALS towards the second half of the 19th century, when the pioneering French neurologist and professor of pathological anatomy (he was also the world’s first professor of neurology), Jean-Martin Charcot , was assigned to the Hospital de la Pitié- Salpêtrière. There, Charcot became interested in this type of neurological problem and began to investigate it, classifying and differentiating the disease from other nervous conditions. He defined Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in 1869.
