Als how does it start

It generally begins with muscle weakness that spreads and gets worse over time. Signs and symptoms might include:. ALS often starts in the hands, feet or limbs, and then spreads to other parts of your body.

As the disease advances and nerve cells are destroyed, your muscles get weaker. This eventually affects chewing, swallowing, speaking and breathing. There's generally no pain in the early stages of ALS , and pain is uncommon in the later stages. ALS doesn't usually affect your bladder control or your senses. ALS affects the nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movements such as walking and talking motor neurons.

ALS causes the motor neurons to gradually deteriorate, and then die. Motor neurons extend from the brain to the spinal cord to muscles throughout the body.

When motor neurons are damaged, they stop sending messages to the muscles, so the muscles can't function. For the rest, the cause isn't known. Researchers continue to study possible causes of ALS.

Most theories center on a complex interaction between genetic and environmental factors. Environmental factors, such as the following, might trigger ALS. As the disease progresses, ALS causes complications, such as:. Over time, ALS paralyzes the muscles you use to breathe. You might need a device to help you breathe at night, similar to what someone with sleep apnea might wear.

For example, you may be given a bilevel positive airway pressure BiPAP device to help with your breathing at night. This type of device supports your breathing through a mask worn over your nose, your mouth or both. Some people with advanced ALS choose to have a tracheostomy — a surgically created hole at the front of the neck leading to the windpipe trachea — for full-time use of a respirator that inflates and deflates their lungs.

The most common cause of death for people with ALS is respiratory failure. On average, death occurs within 3 to 5 years after symptoms begin. Motor neurons are found in the brain and spinal cord. As ALS progresses, these cells degenerate and die.

They stop sending messages to muscles. The brain can no longer control voluntary movement, and the muscles weaken and waste away. As ALS progresses, it affects all the voluntary muscles. The person can no longer control their arms, face, and legs. In time, the inability to breathe unsupported can lead to respiratory failure.

Half of all people with ALS will live for 3 years or more after diagnosis, but some live for longer. Around 20 percent of people will live 5 years or more after diagnosis, 10 percent will live for 10 years or more, and 5 percent will live for 20 years.

Steven Hawking, the famous physicist, received a diagnosis of ALS aged 21 years. Now well over 70 years old, he remains a leader in the field of science. It is unclear exactly what causes ALS. There are different types , according to their signs and symptoms and whether or not there is a clear genetic association. ALS can be sporadic or familial. Sporadic ALS occurs randomly, and it accounts for 90 to 95 percent of cases.

There is no clear risk factor or cause. Familial ALS is inherited. Around 5 to 10 percent of cases are familial. The child of a person with ALS will have a 50 percent chance of developing the condition.

Rarely, it can affect a person in their teens. Researchers are investigating which genes are involved. One study has reported that military personnel deployed in the Gulf region during the war were more likely to develop ALS than military personnel deployed elsewhere.

Some possible links have been found between ALS and exposure to:. The symptoms of ALS usually appear when a person is in their late 50s or early 60s, but it can happen at other ages.

Progression varies between individuals. In the early stages, signs and symptoms may be barely noticeable, but the weakness becomes more visible over time.

Progressive muscle weakness occurs in all cases of ALS, but this may not be the first indication of the condition. Early symptoms often include clumsiness, abnormal limb fatigue, muscle cramps and twitches, and slurred speech.

Symptoms will spread to all parts of the body as ALS progresses. Some people may have problems with decision-making and memory, eventually leading to a form of dementia called frontotemporal dementia. There is no cure for ALS, so treatment aims to alleviate symptoms, prevent unnecessary complications, and slow the rate of disease progression. ALS can cause a range of physical, mental, and social changes, so a team of specialists will often help patients manage their symptoms and care, improve their qualify of life, and prolong survival.

These teams of specialists use devices and therapies to help patients manage their ALS symptoms and to allow people with the disease to maintain their independence and quality of life. This multidisciplinary approach has also been shown to prolong survival of people who have ALS. Many people with ALS and other neuromuscular diseases decide to take part in research studies to help test new medications and treatments aimed at treating the disease.

What is ALS? What are the symptoms of ALS? Who gets ALS? What causes ALS? How is ALS diagnosed? Is there a cure for ALS? How is ALS treated? Defective glutamate metabolism Free radical injury Mitochondrial dysfunction Gene defects Programmed cell death or apoptosis. Cytoskeletal protein defects Autoimmune and inflammatory mechanisms Accumulation of protein aggregates clumps Viral infections.

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