SUNY ACC Freshmen Seminar Project

1. Stephanie Morgan
ALS
(LOU GEHRIG’S
DISEASE)

2. What does it mean?
• Amyotrophic
• Lateral
• Sclerosis
• Let’s break that down…
• “A” means no or negative
• “myo” refers to the muscles
• “trophic” mean nourishment
• No Muscle nourishment
• “Lateral” refers to the area in the spine where the brain cells tell the
muscles what to do
• “Sclerosis” is hardening.. Once the disease starts to progress, the lateral
areas harden and the signals from the brain to the muscles eventually seize
to continue

3. What is affected?
• In order for our muscles to function properly, motor neurons move
from the brain to the spinal chord and from the spinal chord to the
muscles…ALS is responsible for the destruction of these neurons.
• When these motor neurons are destroyed, the muscles throughout
the body do not receive the signals they need in order to complete
daily functions such as speaking, eating, moving, and even
breathing.
• Eventually, the disease progresses further and people lose the
ability to function entirely.

4. Facts and Statistics: Robert Packard
• Most people who develop ALS are between the ages of 40 and 75,
with the majority after age 60, although it can occur at a younger
age.
• The disease is relatively rare; the incidence is roughly 2 people per
100,000 per year.
• Most surveys hold that ALS is more common in men than women,
though that gap may be closing.
• The incidence of ALS is five times higher than Huntington’s disease
and about half that of multiple sclerosis.
• While there’s no cure, riluzole therapy improves ALS survival for
typical patients by a short period of time, around four to six
months.
• ALS occurs throughout the world with no obvious racial, ethnic or
socioeconomic boundaries.

5. Two types; Sporadic and Familial
• Sporadic: the MOST common for of ALS (90-95% of all cases). Tjis
type can effect anyone, anywhere.
• Familial: The disease is inherited. In these families, there is a 50%
chance that each child will inherit the gene mutation.

6. My Story
In the spring of 2009, my loving, caring, selfless,
and flawless Nana was diagnosed with ALS as a
result of a tick bite that went untreated. Her
diagnosis and progressive disease became the
worst 2 years I have experienced, and left me
without the most important person in my life.

7. My College Essay
• I dedicated my college essay to the experience I underwent with my
grandmother. The experience changed my life, and shaped me into
the person I am today…Below is a recording of me reading it out
loud.
• It was important for me to be able to capture how important she
was and how difficult her illness was, but I had to keep my essay to
a minimum, which was a huge challenge.

8. • The two years spent feeding my Nana and brushing her hair and
helping to complete everyday tasks that became impossible to
accomplish on her own brought her and I even closer than we were
before, which we didn’t even know was possible.
• The reason I am studying Nursing in college and planning to persue
a career in the field is because of her. I saw first hand the nurses
caring for her and the hospice workers making sure she was
comfortable all the time.
• My dream is to be in a research lab actively finding a cure for this
awful disease, because a 100% mortality rate is just horrifying.

9. Fun Fact: I am the only one in my
family with blonde hair and I get
that 100% from her! ( her hair isn’t
so blonde anymore in the picture)
My first (and only)
tattoo I got in honor
of her.. She told me
when she left she
would watch over
me and I would
know she was there
whenever I saw a
cardinal.. They are
always outside my
bedroom window

10. Works Cited
• http://www.alscenter.org/living_with_als/facts_statistics.html
• http://www.alsa.org/about-als/