Fast Facts on ALS
The Ice Bucket Challenge in 2014 aimed to spread understanding of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and millions around the globe, including famous celebrities and personalities, participated in the challenge. Below are some facts about this debilitating disease.
What Happens in ALS
The effect of ALS is loss of control of voluntary muscles such as those in the arms and legs and other parts of the body. Patients may loose the ability to speak, eat, move, breathe, and preform other activities. It is important to provide home health care to these patients. West Coast Nursing Ventura, Inc., a trusted provider of home health care in Hillcrest Drive Thousand Oaks CA, offers such service.
The cause of the paralysis is the death of motor neurons in the spinal cord. These motor neurons extend to the muscles and from the brain. The brain uses these neurons to control and send signals to the muscles through the spinal cord, and so, if the neurons in the spinal cord die, the brain loses the ability to control the muscles.
93% of ALS Patients are Caucasians
According to the ALS Association, 93% of patients registered in the ALS CARE database are Caucasians. Sixty percent of patients in the same database are males. The same source says that population studies reveal that around 6,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with ALS every year, which translates to 15 cases every day. Moreover, an estimated 20,000 Americans have ALS at any given time. Nursing services providers such as West Coast Nursing Ventura, Inc., your partner in home health care in Hillcrest Drive Thousand Oaks CA, must be able to cope with this number to ensure that the sick is well tended to.
ALS is 100% fatal
In 1995, the FDA approved Riluzole, a drug that slows down the progression of ALS. It has been shown that the drug can prolong the life of patients for at least a few months. On average, however, patients will live three years. Around 20 percent will survive five years, 10 percent will live 10 years, and five percent will live 20 years or more. It is important to understand that the disease progresses or gets worse over time, and that the disease eventually leads to death.
It is necessary that relatives of patients have basic understanding of the disease, and it is recommended to provide patients professional nursing services like those offered by West Coast Nursing Ventura, Inc., a trusted name in home health care in Hillcrest Drive Thousand Oaks CA.