2011 Half Marathon & 5K for ALS
May 28, 2011
Marsing Island Park • Marsing, Idaho
Check back soon for updates, results and photos!
What is ALS?
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.
A-myo-trophic comes from the Greek language. "A" means no or negative. "Myo" refers to muscle, and "Trophic" means nourishment–"No muscle nourishment." When a muscle has no nourishment, it "atrophies" or wastes away. "Lateral" identifies the areas in a person's spinal cord where portions of the nerve cells that signal and control the muscles are located. As this area degenerates it leads to scarring or hardening ("sclerosis") in the region.
The average lifespan of a patient with ALS is approximately 18 months to 5 years and, at this point in time, is always fatal.
Currently there is only a single therapy approved for treating ALS progression - the drug Rilutek (riluzole) with the accepted, modest benefit estimated to be a three month extension in patient survival.
Research is ongoing. We need to find an effective treatment and cure.
More information about the disease is available at
alsa.org or
als.net
