Symptoms of ALS

People with ALS are often aware of the signs and symptoms to look out for because most likely someone in their family had experienced the same signs, and it is genetically passed down.

First it starts with muscle weakness in either their arms or legs, or maybe both. For people who don’t realize it’s happening, they think nothing of it, and just think they are being more clumsy than usual.

Picture Source

 The symptoms progress to some twitching or cramping of their muscles, especially those of the hands and feet, leading to impairment of the use of their limbs. They’ll start having symptoms of their respiratory system as the disease starts affecting the motor neurons in their chest muscles. They’ll have difficulty projecting their voice and maybe stumble over their words.

In the advance stages of the disease, the person with ALS will have shortness of breath, which is when the person has difficulty catching a full breath and feels like they aren’t getting enough air. The disease progresses and they eventually have difficulty breathing and swallowing, most people in the end stages of the disease will need a ventilator to help them breathe and maybe a feeding tube or a change in their diet to prevent them from choking on their food.

On the bright side, since ALS only attacks the motor neurons, you still have your sensory skills. You can still feel touch, see, hear, smell, and taste the world just the same as before you had the disease. The only thing that’s changed is your ability to move, breathe, and swallow.

The mean survival time with ALS (or how long it takes the disease to kill you) is about three to five years, but a lot of people survive more than 10 years. The sooner you know the symptoms, the better. There is one drug that slows the progression of ALS, so the sooner you can get on the drug, the more time it can give you with the world. 

Sources:

Association, A. (2010). Symptoms of ALS. Retrieved from ALS Association.

Association, M. D. (2015). Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Retrieved from Muscular Dystrophy Association: http://mda.org/disease/amyotrophic-lateral-sclerosis/signs-and-symptoms

Picture Source: http://mda.org/sites/default/files/body_motor-neurons.jpg