people are living with ALS around the world
Canadians are currently living with ALS
Canadians are diagnosed with ALS each year
of people with ALS die within two to three years of diagnosis
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (also know as ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, or motor neuron disease) is a disease that progressively paralyzes people.
This occurs because the brain is no longer able to communicate with the muscles of the body that we are typically able to move at will. Over time, as the muscles of the body break down, someone living with ALS will lose the ability to walk, talk, eat, swallow, and eventually breathe.
Symptoms and signs of ALS, and the order in which they occur, vary from one person to another. In the early stages, they may seem trivial or be dismissed as normal signs of aging.
Please note that symptoms are what you experience or feel, whereas signs are what can be seen or measured.
A neurologist will typically diagnose ALS through a process of reviewing symptoms and eliminating other possible diseases.
As ALS progresses, people living with the disease will find it more difficult to walk and move around, and they will eventually require support to do so. Their symptoms will gradually worsen and take away their ability to move, swallow, speak, and eventually breathe.
Not every person with ALS will experience all of these symptoms. Although symptoms may seem to stay the same over a period of time, ALS is progressive and does not go into remission. It is terminal, usually within two to five years after diagnosis, although some people have lived with ALS for 10 years or longer.
Although there is no cure for ALS, there are treatments available that can help manage ALS-related symptoms, as well as ongoing clinical trials across Canada.
ALS Canada offers education, support, and practical tools to help with the challenges of living with ALS.
Obtaining a diagnosis of ALS can be a difficult process. We have the information and tools to make it easier.
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