What is ALS?

ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease and currently has no cure. Every 90 minutes, someone is diagnosed with the disease, and someone passes away from it.

ALS causes these motor neurons to degenerate over time until they eventually die. When the motor neurons die, the brain can no longer initiate and control muscle movement. When voluntary muscle action is progressively affected, people may lose the ability to speak, eat, move and breathe.

ALS was identified in 1869 by French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, but it became more widely known internationally in 1939 when it ended the career of one of baseball’s most beloved players, Lou Gehrig. For many years, ALS was commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

While this is a horrible disease for anyone to battle, our goal is that we can use our platform to encourage others to live with hope and the ability to see that life should not stop from this diagnosis.