Prevalence of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis — United States, 2014

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive and fatal neuromuscular disease; the majority of ALS patients die within 2-5 years of receiving a diagnosis (1). Familial ALS, a hereditary form of the disease, accounts for 5%-10% of cases, whereas th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report 2018-02, Vol.67 (7), p.216-218
Main Authors: Mehta, Paul, Kaye, Wendy, Raymond, Jaime, Wu, Ruoming, Larson, Theodore, Punjani, Reshma, Heller, Daniel, Cohen, Jessica, Peters, Tracy, Muravov, Oleg, Horton, Kevin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - epidemiology
Development and progression
Disease susceptibility
Female
Full Report
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Prevalence
Registries
United States - epidemiology
Young Adult
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Description
Summary:Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive and fatal neuromuscular disease; the majority of ALS patients die within 2-5 years of receiving a diagnosis (1). Familial ALS, a hereditary form of the disease, accounts for 5%-10% of cases, whereas the remaining sporadic cases have no clearly defined etiology (1). ALS affects persons of all races and ethnicities; however, whites, males, non-Hispanics, persons aged >60 years, and those with a family history of ALS are more likely to develop the disease (1-3). No cure for ALS has yet been identified, and the lack of proven and effective therapeutic interventions is an ongoing challenge. Current treatments available do not cure ALS but have been shown to slow disease progression. Until recently, only one drug (riluzole) was approved to treat ALS; however, in 2017, the Food and Drug Administration approved a second drug, edaravone (4).
ISSN:0149-2195
1545-861X
DOI:10.15585/mmwr.mm6707a3