Today's health information is 'The cause, symptom treatment of Lou Gehrig's disease'.
In medical terms, it is <Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis>, and it is a well-known disease to us as 'Lou Gehrig's disease'.
It was first reported as a disease of motor neurons in 1869 by a French physician, Jean-Martin Chacot.
Later, in 1939, the famous American baseball player Lou Gehrig suffered from this disease and it became known to the general public, and from then on it was called Lou Gehrig's disease.
This disease occurs when nerve cells in the brain, especially motor neurons, are degenerated and the nerves in the brain are completely destroyed. It affects not only the nerve cells in the brain, but also the nerve cells in the brainstem and spinal cord, as well as the nerve cells responsible for the voluntary muscles distributed throughout the body. Therefore, because the muscles are not stimulated by the motor nerves, the muscles are weakened and the ability to control voluntary movements is lost.
They also lose the ability to control the chest and diaphragm muscles, eventually leading to respiratory failure, which makes it difficult to breathe on their own without the help of a ventilator. However, sensory nerves and autonomic nerves are rarely affected, so paresthesia or autonomic disorders rarely appear.
Causes of Lou Gehrig's disease.
Although the cause of Lou Gehrig's disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is not yet known, various hypotheses have been proposed so far.
About 5-10% of all ALS patients are known as 'familial muscular atrophic familial sclerosis', and mutations in the causative gene on chromosome 21 are confirmed in about 20% of families. So far, all eight genes have been reported to cause familial ALS.
In addition, in sporadic ALS, which is not hereditary, apoptosis due to excitatory cytotoxicity (a phenomenon in which cells die by themselves under the control of genes) is thought to play an important role. Other hypotheses that a special virus is the cause and the action of environmental toxins have been suggested as the cause of ALS, but there is no direct evidence yet.
Symptoms of Lou Gehrig's Disease.
Early symptoms of ALS include mild muscle weakness, poor hand movements, and difficulty performing tasks that require fine movements of the fingers and hands. Weakness of the muscles in the legs can cause them to slip and fall, making swallowing difficult and speech slow.
Other symptoms include gradual loss of movement of the lips and weakness or loss of function of the tongue, mouth, and bulbs. Leg cramps may occur at night, most frequently in the calf or thigh muscles. Gradually, additional muscles are involved, and the process can be fast or slow.
Other symptoms include sudden, uncontrolled muscle spasms, cramps in the legs, and coughing. People with this disorder may have muscle reflexes. A noticeable weight loss may be seen in approximately 5%.
Early symptoms can be divided into a quadrilateral type, in which motor neurons located in the cervical spinal cord are mainly damaged, and a globular type, in which motor neurons located in the brainstem are mainly damaged.
quadruped.
Movement disorders due to paralysis of the limbs are the main symptoms. About 3/4 of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis go to the hospital because they feel abnormal movements in their limbs. In our daily life, we cannot properly pick up food with chopsticks or use our hands and feet freely.
In addition, subjective symptoms such as pain appear as easily fatigued or muscle tremors. Also, at the same time as these symptoms appear, the patient's hands and feet muscles atrophy and become thin.
rectangle.
Paralysis of the tongue and neck muscles is the main symptom, and about one-fourth of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis go to the hospital with paresis. It is a symptom of paralysis of the medulla oblongata, a part of our brain. In the paresis of the mouth, the ball means soft water, and the soft tissue is paralyzed, weakening the strength of the muscles of the tongue, mouth, and throat, and the function of the larynx is lost.
They also have difficulty speaking and slurred pronunciation, which impairs communication, and as this progresses, it becomes difficult to swallow food.
As symptoms progress, the muscles of the chest and diaphragm are affected, and the respiratory muscles gradually weaken over the course of years or months. As a result, respiratory failure eventually develops, making it difficult to breathe on your own without a ventilator. There is also an increased risk of acute inflammation of the lungs, and aspiration pneumonia is also common.
Overall, the ability to move is reduced, and the ability to swallow food is reduced, resulting in insufficient nutrition. The degree of progression of the disease varies from patient to patient. In the case of limb movement disorder, the limbs gradually become thinner and it becomes difficult to move, making it difficult to stand up alone.
If swallowing becomes difficult, you may be fed through a tube. As the disease progresses, typically over three to five years, individuals gradually lose the ability to stand or sit, causing many patients to require mechanical assistance to breathe.
Very few patients experience gradual stabilization of symptoms, which can remain stable for several years.
Diagnosis of Lou Gehrig's Disease.
Lou Gehrig's disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is characterized by damage to both upper and lower motor nerves. Initially, some patients will have small diameters only due to damage to the upper motor nerves. Damage to the lower motor nerves usually appears within 3 to 5 years of onset. Because the early symptoms of ALS can be similar to other diseases, the diagnosis is primarily to rule out other conditions.
To this end, based on the general patient's history and neurological examination, nerve conduction velocity test, muscle tissue biopsy, blood test, urine test, cerebrospinal fluid test, cervical spine X-ray, magnetic resonance imaging test, and electromyography are performed to make a diagnosis. I write.
To rule out diseases similar to Lou Gehrig's disease, eye movement disorders, sensory disorders, bladder and anal disorders, or intellectual disorders are checked. This is because Lou Gehrig's disease rarely accompanies these symptoms.
Treatment of Lou Gehrig's Disease.
Currently, there is no fundamental treatment for ALS itself, but research on ALS is progressing little by little, and it has become possible to delay the progression of the disease. As mentioned in the cause of the disease, there is no clear cause for ALS, and no clear treatment has been developed.
In general, popular therapy is recommended for patients with Lou Gehrig's disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) to alleviate the symptoms they complain of.
As a drug that delays the progression of Lou Gehrig's disease, there is riluzole (Lirutec) as a treatment that has begun to be recognized as having the effect of prolonging life abroad. Riluzole is a drug that suppresses excess glutamic acid, which is believed to be one of the causes of destruction of motor neurons. Glutamic acid is a type of amino acid that is present throughout the body, and most of it makes the energy needed to move the body and protein necessary for the body.
In addition, glutamic acid plays an important role in transmitting electrical signals from the brain to the muscles. Riluzole is a drug that prevents glutamic acid from destroying nerves and inhibits the progression of ALS. However, once destroyed nerves do not return to their original state, so taking Riluzole does not stop the symptoms of Lou Gehrig's disease patients or return them to their original healthy state.
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This information is a reference material to help you understand health information.
In order to accurately determine the patient's symptoms and disease, it is necessary to see a doctor.
