ALS

Your Path

  • ALS

Etiology

  • Slowly progressive, idiopathic neuro-degenerative disorder of upper and lower motor neurons

Risk Factors

  • Age onset 40-70
  • Family hx
  • Head trauma (e.g. military combat related)

Symptoms

  • Dysphagia
  • Laryngospasm
  • SOB
  • Can present w/predominantly bulbar symptoms (25%) including weak, low pitched, monotone, breathy speech, requiring extra effort, speech difficult to understand
  • Others present w/limb dominant symptoms (70%) including weakness, wasting, spasticiity
  • Difficulty swallowing
  • Diminished cough
  • Emotional lability including pathologic laughing
  • No sensory complaints
  • ~1y from symptom onset to diagnosis
  • Avg 3-5y from diagnosis to death (highly variable); shorter for bulbar dz

Physical Exam Findings

  • Bulbar findings include: tongue fasciculations, tongue muscle wasting, loss of rise in palate w/"ahh," weak/breathy voice
  • Limb findings include: muscle weakness (flaccid or spastic), muscle wasting/atrophy often most apparent in hands, fasciculations of any muscle group, spasticity, hyper-reflexia, + Babinski
  • Normal sensation

Tests

Links