This is a progressive nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control. ALS is often called Lau Gehrig’s disease after the baseball player who was diagnosed with it. It affects nerve cells that control muscle movements like walking and talking. About 5%-10% of people with ALS cases are inherited. Most theories centre it on complex interaction between genetic and environmental factors. It often begins with muscle twitching and weakness in a limb, or slurred speech and eventually affects control of the muscles needed to move, speak, eat and breath. The disease has no cure.
Common signs and symptoms of ALS include: Difficulty walking or doing normal daily activities, Tripping and falling, Weakness in legs, ankles and feet, Hand weakness and clumsiness, Slurred speech and trouble swallowing, Muscle cramps and twitching in arms, shoulders and tongue, Inappropriate crying, laughing or yawning, Cognitive and behavioural changes.