How to Recognize the Signs of Lou Gehrig's Disease

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease after a baseball player diagnosed with the disease in the 1930s, is a fatal neurological disease that progressively damages the body's motor neurons. As muscles deteriorate, ALS sufferers lose all ability to move, speak and breathe. Roughly 90 percent of ALS victims die within three to five years from the onset of symptoms.

Instructions

• 1

  Look for early signs of slightly slurred speech, tripping or trouble lifting things.

• 2

  Determine if a person has developed muscle weakness. This is the hallmark sign of Lou Gehrig's Disease, occurring as an early sign in more than 60 percent of patients.

• 3

  Watch for other early signs such as dropping things, extreme fatigue of arms and legs, muscle cramps and twitches and uncontrollable periods of crying or laughter.

• 4

  Recognize when a person is having trouble with their hands and feet. Once the disease begins to worsen, walking, lifting things, holding onto things and buttoning clothes can become difficult.

• 5

  Contact your physician if you notice any of these signs in yourself or someone else. There are a number of tests specialists can do to diagnose Lou Gehrig's Disease.