Stephen Hawking, who died Wednesday at the age of 76, had lived with the crippling disease ALS for 55 years.
Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, whose ALS was diagnosed in 1963, had the disease for 55 years, the longest recorded time one had the disease.
Dr. Hawking became a professor at the University of Cambridge in England. Although his life was expected by some physicians to be short, he died at the age of 76 after living for more than 50 years with ALS. He published many articles and several books on theoretical physics and the Big Bang theory.
ALS is fatal. The average life expectancy after diagnosis is two to five years, but some patients may live for years or even decades. (The famous physicist Stephen Hawking, for example, lived for more than 50 years after he was diagnosed.) There is no known cure to stop or reverse ALS.
People with ALS who use an assisted-breathing device usually have increased life expectancy and may have better quality of life. Longer life expectancy is also likely for people with ALS who use a feeding tube known as a PEG tube, since nutrition plays a critical role in extending survival.
Less appreciated is the fact that ALS progression can stop (plateau) or even reverse with significant recovery of lost motor functions.
The rates of ALS seem to be increasing slightly, although it's hard to say why; part of the reason is thought to be that people are simply living longer, and that doctors are getting better at diagnosing it.
At present, there is no cure for ALS. However, there are several treatment options, including stem cell therapy, Riluzole, occupational therapy, and gene therapy, which may help manage symptoms and slow the progression of the disease, as well as ongoing research for potential cures and treatments.
Symptoms and Diagnosis
The rate at which ALS progresses can be quite variable, as well. Although the mean survival time with ALS is two to five years, some people live five years, 10 years or even longer. Symptoms can begin in the muscles that control speech and swallowing or in the hands, arms, legs or feet.
— A year ago, eight-year-old Kennedy Arney was diagnosed with juvenile ALS. Just seven at the time, she became the youngest person diagnosed with the illness in the United States. "It was actually a mutation in my DNA, because there's no family history in my family with ALS," she explained.
Although descriptions of ALS-like symptoms can be found in medical literature as early as 1824, it wasn't until 1869 that the condition was identified as a specific disease by the 'father of modern neurology', Jean-Martin Charcot.
Boston, MA—Consuming omega-3 fatty acids—particularly alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a nutrient found in foods including flaxseeds, walnuts, and chia, canola, and soybean oils—may help slow the progression of disease in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to a new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan ...
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a severe neurodegenerative disease with a progressive decline of upper and lower motor neurons leading to disability and death. Survival in ALS is highly variable, with a wide range from a few months to many years.
Who is more likely to get amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)? Risk factors for ALS include: Age—Although the disease can strike at any age, symptoms most commonly develop between the ages of 55 and 75. Biological sex—Males are slightly more likely to develop ALS.
The incidence of ALS is two per 100,000 people, and it is estimated that at least 16,000 Americans may be living with ALS at any given time.
There is a uniqueness in care management, time effectiveness, and determination of quality of life for ALS patients. The distinctiveness of those aspects makes ALS all the rarer. National and world-wide organizations will be promoting forums and events to raise awareness of rare diseases in our population.
Although ALS isn't always preventable, early treatment can help slow the disease's progression. Treatment options for ALS include taking prescription medications and engaging in physical therapy, assistive treatments, and speech therapy.
A first-of-its-kind stem cell therapy for ALS passes a critical safety benchmark, advancing the search to slow down, reverse and prevent the disease. In a parallel study, investigators are growing patient-derived stem cells to model ALS, hoping to uncover its mechanisms and classify it with more specificity.
We now found that an ivermectin can increase the life span in a relevant transgenic mouse model affected by ALS. The study demonstrated that ivermectin induces a mechanism in motor neurons that protects a subject affected by a motor neuron disease such as ALS. .
Treatments can't reverse the damage of ALS , but they can slow the progression of symptoms. They also can help prevent complications and make you more comfortable and independent. You might need a team of health care providers and doctors trained in many areas to provide your care.
The Midwest has the highest rate of cases per region with a rate of 5.7 per 100,000 population, followed by the Northeast (5.2), South (4.7), and the West (4.3). The individual states with the greatest numbers of cases were California (n = 1450, 9.3%), Florida (n = 1010, 6.5%), and Texas (n = 976, 6.2%).
Conclusions: Our review suggests that increased susceptibility to ALS is significantly and independently associated with 2 factors: professional sports and sports prone to repetitive concussive head and cervical spinal trauma. Their combination resulted in an additive effect, further increasing this association to ALS.
Where are most cases of ALS? In the U.S., the Midwest currently has the largest number of people with ALS (at 5.5 cases per 100,000 population). Researchers have also found that the prevalence rates of ALS are highest in Uruguay, New Zealand, and the United States.