Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for ALS

What is ALS?

The nerve cells (neurons) in charge of coordinating voluntary muscular action are particularly vulnerable to the degenerative effects of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal and extremely rare neurological illness (those muscles we choose to move).

Chewing, walking, and talking are all examples of voluntary muscular action. The symptoms of the condition worsen over time, indicating that it progresses.

There is currently no medication for ALS that can slow or stop the illness from progressing.

Motor neuron diseases, of which ALS is a subset, are characterized by the progressive degradation (degeneration) and eventual death of motor neurons.

Motor neurons are a special type of nerve cell that may be found all over the body and which connect the brain and spinal cord to the muscles.

Muscles deteriorate, twitch, and waste away due to a lack of stimulation as motor neurons die off (atrophy). A person’s capacity to initiate and control voluntary motions declines as they age.

Weakness or stiffness in the muscles is a common symptom of ALS in its early stages. Individuals gradually lose their strength and their capacity to speak, eat, move, and even breathe as all voluntary muscles are impaired.

After experiencing symptoms for anywhere from three months to five years, most persons with ALS eventually succumb to respiratory failure and die.

But only approximately 10% of those diagnosed with ALS live for ten years or longer after diagnosis.

After the famed baseball player retired in the 1940s due to the disease, ALS became known as Lou Gehrig’s sickness.