What is ALS, the disease that killed Sandra Bullock's partner
What's the story
Hollywood actor Sandra Bullock lost her longtime partner Bryan Randall to a disease named Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) on August 5.
As per the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, ALS, which is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, "is a rare neurological" ailment that affects voluntary muscle movements in the body.
The symptoms of this disease generally exacerbate with time.
Concept
ALS impacts the nerve cells in the brain and spine
As mentioned above, ALS causes a loss of control over muscles due to its impact on the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.
It typically starts with simple twitches, spasms, or weakness in the muscles of the arms or legs, and then progresses to affect chewing and speaking.
As it advances over time, it can even make movements and breathing more difficult.
Information
Let's break down the word for you
"Amyotrophic" is a Greek word where "a" means no, "myo" means muscle, and "trophic" means nourishment. The word "lateral" refers to the spinal cord which degenerates and leads to "sclerosis" meaning scarring or hardening.
Causes
The cause of this disease is still unknown
Health experts around the world haven't been able to find the exact cause of this neurological disorder.
However, as per The ALS Association, "About 5-10% of all cases, there's a known family history of the disease. This is often called familial ALS."
For 90% of the cases, there is no family history, which makes it a disease that can happen owing to unknown reasons.
Symptoms
Symptoms include weakness, speech problems, falling, difficulty in chewing
Patients with ALS experience weakness in the legs, feet, and ankles, and have trouble walking. They are prone to tripping and falling.
They also feel muscle twitches, muscle cramps, muscle spasms, slurred and nasal speech, difficulty in chewing and swallowing food, and changes in their thinking abilities, responses, and overall behavior.
They also find it difficult to breathe in more advanced stages.
Risk
Age, environment, and genetics are some risk factors
Per sources, although anyone can suffer from ALS, the risk is high for people who are 60 to 85 years old.
Men are more susceptible to this disease than women.
A report by MayoClinic also states that Caucasians and non-Hispanics are most likely to develop the disease.
Other notable risk factors include genetics, lifestyle practices like smoking, and environmental aspects like exposure to toxins.
Treatment
There's no treatment to reverse ALS
Unfortunately, the treatments available for ALS can only make living with the disease easier and not offer a cure.
The management of this neurological ailment includes lifestyle changes, rehabilitation, physical and occupational therapy, communication support, breathing support, and a few medicines that mitigate the symptoms.
Other than this, experts have not been able to find anything that prevents or slows down the progression.