The ALS Association

Citation: The ALS Association Media Relations. The ALS Association: Fighting Lou Gehrig disease on multiple fronts. Rare Diseases 2013; 1:e24910; http:// dx.doi.org/10.4161/rdis.24910 Correspondence to: The ALS Association Email: [email protected] Since 1985, The ALS Association has worked with people and their families living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (Fig. 1). ALS, which is also known as Lou Gehrig disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. The disease robs people of the ability to walk, to talk and even blink an eye. It traps them inside a body they no longer can control and ultimately prevents them from breathing as it takes their life. An estimated 5,600 Americans are diagnosed with the disease annually, and around 30,000 people in the US have ALS. Those with Lou Gehrig disease usually live two to five years following diagnosis. There is no known cause of the disease, although military veterans are approximately twice as likely to develop ALS as the general population for reasons unknown. There is no cure and no life-prolonging treatments for ALS at this time. Approximately 90 percent of people with ALS have the sporadic, or erratic, type of the disease, whereas 10 percent have the familial (inherited) form of ALS.