What are the first warning signs of ALS?

What are the first warning signs of ALS?

Signs and symptoms might include:

• Difficulty walking or doing normal daily activities.
• Tripping and falling.
• Weakness in your legs, feet or ankles.
• Hand weakness or clumsiness.
• Slurred speech or trouble swallowing.
• Muscle cramps and twitching in your arms, shoulders and tongue.
• Inappropriate crying, laughing or yawning.

What is ALS commonly mistaken for?

ALS is commonly misdiagnosed as cerebrovascular disease, cervical myelopathy, vertebral disc herniation, radiculopathy, neuropathy, and myasthenia gravis. Misdiagnosed patients may endure surgery or treatment for the wrong diagnosis that can lead to unnecessary harm.

What does ALS first feel like?

Early symptoms of ALS are usually characterized by muscle weakness, tightness (spasticity), cramping, or twitching (fasciculations). This stage is also associated with muscle loss or atrophy.

Do symptoms of ALS come on suddenly?

As I have mentioned before, ALS does not start abruptly. Consider Lou Gehrig. At first he never dreamed he had a disease. That’s the same problem all of our patients face.

What does ALS feel like in hands?

The split-hand sign, one of the early physical symptoms of ALS, refers to a loss of the pincer grasp due to weakness and wasting of two hand muscles — the abductor pollicis brevis (APB) and the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscles — located on the side of the thumb.

What does ALS feel like in feet?

One of the first symptoms could be unexplained tripping or foot drop. (Foot drop is when you have trouble lifting the front part of your foot.) This is the most common type of ALS.

What are the symptoms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)?

AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS SYMPTOMS. The symptoms of ALS can be further divided into primary and secondary symptoms. Primary symptoms include muscle weakness and atrophy, spasticity, speech disturbances, poor management of oral secretions, difficulty swallowing, and respiratory complications that result in death.

How does ALS affect the body?

Eventually, the brain loses its ability to initiate and control voluntary movements. Early symptoms of ALS usually include muscle weakness or stiffness. Gradually all voluntary muscles are affected, and individuals lose their strength and the ability to speak, eat, move, and even breathe.

What is the prevalence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)?

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a late-onset fatal neurodegenerative disease affecting motor neurons with an incidence of about 1/100,000.

What is the pathophysiology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis?

Keywords: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, sporadic and familial ALS, superoxide dismutase INTRODUCTION Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal motor neuron disorder that is, characterized by progressive loss of the upper and lower motor neurons (LMNs) at the spinal or bulbar level.[251]