Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, is a type of motor neuron disease. It’s also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. ALS affects motor neurons — nerves that control your voluntary muscles. Voluntary muscles are the ones you use for actions like chewing, talking and moving your arms and legs. ALS is progressive, meaning that the symptoms get worse over time. If you have ALS, your muscles begin to atrophy or waste away. Your muscles get weaker over time, making it difficult to walk, talk, swallow and eventually breathe. Most people with ALS die of respiratory failure when their lungs can’t get enough oxygen to the blood. Although there’s no cure for ALS, the treatments are constantly improving. The right combination of treatments can slow the progression of the disease and help people with ALS live a good quality of life. Lou Gehrig was a famous baseball player in the 1920s and 1930s. ALS ended his career. He died of the disease a few years after getting diagnosed. As your motor neurons (nerve cells) continue to decline, they can’t send signals to your muscles. The two types of motor neurons are: Upper motor neurons, the motor nerve cells in your brain and spinal cord. Their job is to send signals to lower motor neurons. Lower motor neurons, the motor nerve cells in your brain stem (lower part of your brain) and spinal cord. They receive instructions from the upper motor neurons. They then send messages to your muscles telling them to move. Most often, ALS affects both upper and lower motor neurons.

You may have different symptoms if mostly upper or mostly lower motor neurons are affected. Upper motor neuron disorders cause muscle stiffening. Lower motor neuron diseases cause a loss of muscle tone. Both upper and lower motor neuron problems cause weakness.

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