discovered by a French neurologist in 1869 named Martin Charcot. It is a degenerative
disease that is marked by the progressive failing of motor neurons. This degeneration usually
leads to the death of the afflicted as signals from the brain become unable to reach both voluntary
and involuntary muscle movements such as the heart and diaphragm. While it was discovered in 1869,
only in 1939 was there international attention focused on this disease by the baseball player, Lou Gehrig.
The disease is still very closely related to his name and is often called Lou Gehrigs disease.
The symptoms for ALS vary at the beginning stages of this disease and the mean survival time of people
with ALS is normally 3 to 5 years but some have been able to live more than ten years. Sadly, nearly 5,000
people every year are diagnosed with ALS
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