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Lou Gehrig's Disease

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Lou Gehrig's Disease
Abstract: ALS is a disease in which the causes are unknown and the effects are devastating. Along with great physiological damage there is great mental damage that a patient that had ALS must endure. A disease with a great influence in today's life and the life of those in the past. There is no cure for ALS only treatments. Treatments that treat the symptoms and not the disease.

ALS is a disease that has impacted today's society of individuals in a dramatic and influential way. Not necessarily in a good way, but never the less influential. Throughout recent history the disease has cause heartbreak and hardship, and also a new era of research and paranoia. "Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, …show more content…
Even though a specific cause is not known, many factors have been considered to cause the disease. Seemingly, the most widely accepted theory is that mutated SOD1 plays an active role in the neurodegenerative process (Ripps 1995). According to Ayako Okado-Masumoto and his study entitled "Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A proposed mechanism", there are as many as 90 different mutations in Cu, Zn-superoxide dimutase (SOD1) that are related to cases of ALS, both in familial (FALS) and sporadic (SALS) forms. Because SOD1 is found in the intermembrane space of the mitochondria and mitochondrial swelling and vacuolization are signs of motor neuron death, it was theorized by Okado-Masumoto that the uptake of this mutated SOD1 caused the motor neuron death (Okado-Matsumoto 2002). ALS progresses inexorably, eventually effecting bulbar neurons and cranial never motor nuclei. Because of this patients that are near the final stages of this disease often need substantial medical care to live. Studies have also indicated that normal levels of SOD activity in mouse tissues indicate that the disorder does not result from a decrease of activity and represent a dominant mutation (Ripps …show more content…
CD_ROM. 2005 ed. 2005.

Bustamante, Psy.D, Victoria . "Common Psychological Problems in ALS Patients." ALS News. 05 Dec. 2005 .

Campellone, M.D, Joseph . "Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis." MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia. 7 Feb 2004. 05 Dec. 2005 .

Clem, MD, Kathleen . "Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis." eMedicine. 9 Sep 2004. 05 Dec. 2005 .

Lauralee Sherwood. Human Physiology: From Cells to Systems. 5th ed. Belmont : Thompson Learning, 2004.

Okado-Matsumoto, Ayako . "Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Proposed Mechanism." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 99.13 (2002): 9010-9014.

Ripps, Michael E. . "Transgenic Mice Expressing an Altered Murine Superoxide Dismutase Gene Provide an Animal Model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 92.3 (1995): 689-693.

"What is ALS?." ALSlinks.com. 05 Dec. 2005 .

"What is ALS?." The Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins. 05 Dec. 2005
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