The chemicals in your garage that could increase the risk of an incurable muscle wasting disease that killed Stephen Hawking

What is it?

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurogenerative disorder that affects nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain, according to the Mayo Clinic. It gets progressively worse and causes significant loss of muscle control in people who have it.

Therapy

There is no cure for ALS and the disease is fatal, but patients progress at different rates.

Symptoms

The first signs of ALS are muscle twitching, weakness of the limbs, and difficulty swallowing and speaking. Gradually it worsens muscle control and affects an individual’s ability to breathe, move, speak and eat.

ALS symptoms correspond to where nerve cells deteriorate in each person, and can lead to difficulty walking, stumbling, and weakness of the knees, ankles, and hands.

It can also lead to problems with muscle cramps and twitching in areas such as the tongue, arms and shoulders. People with ALS have experienced premature episodes of laughing, crying and yawning, as well as changes in a person’s thought process or behavior, according to the clinic.

Risk factors

Risk factors researchers have identified for ALS include genetics, as about 10 percent of people diagnosed with ALS have passed on a gene from a family member, which the clinic says is called hereditary ALS. Children of people with hereditary ALS have a 50 percent chance of having the gene.

Age is also a factor as the risk of the disease developing towards the age of 75, with the most common group of people being between 60 and 85 years old. In terms of gender, men are more likely to be diagnosed with ALS. according to the clinic up to 65 years.

Other factors that have been linked to ALS include smoking and exposure to toxins. The clinic reported that military personnel were being diagnosed with ALS more often.

Causes

According to the Mayo Clinic, there is no known cause of ALS, and in a small number of cases, heredity plays a role.

Lou Gehrig’s disease

In addition to being known as ALS, it is also often called Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Lou Gehrig was a loyal first baseman for the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1939. He was known for his strength and durability, earning the nickname ‘The Iron Horse’ with a record streak of 2,130 consecutive matches.

In a July 4, 1939, speech on Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day at Yankee Stadium, the baseball player said, “For the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on earth.’

His popularity and fame transcended the sport of baseball. He died two years after his diagnosis on June 2, 1941.