ALS Awareness Month

by Abigail Knowles Wolfe (BPRW)

May is ALS awareness month, shining the spotlight on Lou Gehrig’s Disease and providing advocacy and support for those facing the disease head on. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is frequently referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, named after the famous American baseball player whose illness truly brought the disease into the public eye. This progressive and most often fatal neurodegenerative disorder is caused by the degeneration of the nerve cells in the nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement. The disorder causes muscle weakness and atrophy throughout the body as both the lower and upper motor neurons degenerate and are no longer able to send messages to the muscles.

The disease may seem like a small or distant problem to those unaffected by it. It also may seem like something only the elderly must face yet ALS most commonly strikes individuals between 40 and 60 years of age, actually quite young by today’s standards. As many as 20,000 Americans have ALS and an estimated 5000 people in the United States are diagnosed with ALS each year. It is surprisingly one of the most common neuromuscular diseases worldwide. Although men are more likely to be diagnosed with ALS than women, people of all races and ethnicities are affected.

The ALS Association is working to spread awareness of Lou Gehrig’s Disease across America. Throughout the month of May, activities will be carried out to bring attention to patient and family care, vital advocacy, and research efforts in the fight against ALS. Educational initiatives are vital to building awareness throughout the nation in addition to continuing to fund the necessary research on ALS, its genetic link and means for preventing and treating the disorder in the future.