1. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis
ALS
Lou Gehrig’s Disease
what’s in a name ?
a
myo
trophic
lateral
sclerosis
“without”
“muscle”
“nourishment”
“side (of the spinal cord)”
“hardening” or “scarring”
So,
Amyotrophic means that the muscles in the body are losing nourishment.
When muscles lose nourshment, they become weaker and smaller.
Did you walk to school today? Eat lunch? Breathe? All
of these things become difficult when you have ALS.
Image: “Anatomy and Physiology” by the US National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program

2. Motor neurons
are nerve cells that control muscle movement
(They aren’t quite like trucks. They don’t move.)
WITHOUT ALS
WITH ALS
motor neurons
motor neurons
exist in the brain and spinal cord
start to break down, and eventually die
motor neurons
pass messages from the brain
to the muscles
If the motor neurons are dead, the brain
can’t send signals to the muscles
When the messages reach
the muscles, they tell the muscles
Because the motor neurons
are not sending the brain’s
messages to the muscles, the person
how to move
cannot move
Images: thenounproject.org; clipartsfree.net; Fine Art America; Pearson Education

3. who has ALS?
30,000
Americans have ALS at this very moment -
That’s almost enough people to fill Fenway Park during a game.
LOU GEHRIG
Lou Gehrig, a New York Yankees German-American baseball player, is
the a famous figure in history to have been diagnosed with ALS.l
One of the most common names for ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease,
1903-1941
Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking is an English physicist at the University of Cambridge.
He was diagnosed at the age of 21, but lives today, at the age of 71.
1942-
Images: Rick Friedman/Corbis; MLB Photos/Getty Images, Dan Kirkwood/Getty Images

4. WHO
develops
als?
Most people who develop ALS are
between the ages of 40 and 70
Patients are expected to live 2-5 years longer after they are diagnosed.
however,
without racial
ALS occurs
throughout the
world
ethnic
socioeconomic
boundaries
Images: Ayasakai; Disney Pixar; thenounproject.org

5. so how do people get ALS ?
the bad news
No one is really sure.
the good news
Some people have ideas.
Some scientists from Johns Hopkins Universtiy say that ALS has a
lot to do with something called
neurotransmitters
neurotransmitters
are a lot like your iPhone, but
instead of sending iMessages to
friends, they send messages to
specific cells
just like text messages
too many
neurotransmitters is a bad thing.
)You want to have just the right amount(
Images: thenounproject.org

6. how NEUROTRANSMITTERS work
1
An electrical signal
enters the
NEURON
NEUROTRANSMITTERS
are held inside
V E S IC L E S
2
The signal causes the
VESICLE
to release the
NEUROTRANSMITTERS
The other cell receives the
NEUROTRANSMITTERS
and the message
Images: Harvard University SLS 11 Lecture 13
3

7. how NEUROTRANSMITTERS work
WITH ALS
The scientists think that
sometimes, in some
people, there are too many
glutamate
neurotransmitters
)
glutamate
is just one type of
(
NEUROTRANSMITTER
Remember?
too many
neurotransmitters is a bad thing.
Images: thenounproject.org

8. Long
story
short
This causes a
chain effect
That
KILLS
motor neurons
And if
motor neurons
are dead, muscles
cannot
move
does this sound familiar ?
(Hint: check back to the second page!)
This is just one of many theories on what causes ALS.
Today, there is no know cure for the disease.
Images: thenounproject.org; clipartsfree.net; Fine Art America; Pearson Education

9. There is a lot that is still unknown about
ALS, and life with ALS can be hard. But
there’s hope.
Stephen Hawking
once said
“
I have had motor neuron disease for
practically all my adult life. Yet
it has not prevented me
from having a very attractive family
and being successful in my work...
I have been lucky
that my condition has progressed
more slowly than is often the case.
But it shows that
one need not
lose hope.
Images: Dan Kirkwood/Getty Images
“

10. Jane Chung
SLS 11
2013