How scary is the disease of killing Stephen Hawking?

Physicist Stephen Hawking died after more than 50 years fighting ALS. He is a rare case, because this non-cure disease often kills patients within 2-5 years.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS is a syndrome of unilateral muscular atrophy , in which the patient gradually becomes paralyzed because the brain can no longer control the motor muscles of the body. Over time, the muscles will shrink and stop working, making people with ALS unable to walk, talk, eat, swallow, and ultimately unable to breathe.

ALS is not a contagious disease and so far scientists have not found a cure for this disease. About 80% of patients die within 2-5 years after the diagnosis. ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, named after the American baseball legend. He had ALS at the peak of his career and died at the age of 39, just two years after his discovery.

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking suffers from ALS since he was young and lived with the disease for more than 50 years.(Photo: Thesun).

Stephen Hawking's 'physical prince' was diagnosed with ALS at age 21 and predicted not to live more than 25 years old. However, he fought and lived with the disease so far has not found this exact cause until his death at the age of 76.

Operation mechanism of ALS

The human brain connects to the muscles through millions of specialized neurons, called motor neurons, which act as data transmission lines in the body, allowing us to move at will.

Neurons work in pairs: a neural neuron in the brain is connected to the brain stem in the nape or spinal cord, a neuron that attaches the brain or spinal cord with muscles. The brain transmits signals through these motor neurons to control muscles.

ALS makes the brain unable to control muscles.(Photo: Guttmann).

When suffering from ALS, the patient's neurons slowly break down and die slowly. That means that the brain cannot connect to muscles. As a result, muscles become weak and eventually patients will not be able to use them.

Symptom

In most cases of ALS, motor neurons in the medulla of the brain will be affected first. That means the muscles in the head, face and neck will be paralyzed in front of other parts of the body.

Patients also have symptoms that are difficult to control limbs, or fall off when walking. The disease progresses rapidly from the onset, causing the patient to lose ability to move, speak, chew and breathe.

Currently, there are no drugs that can cure this disease. Patients can only prolong life with expensive ancillary equipment.

Types of ALS

1. The most common form of ALS is random ALS , meaning that the disease can occur in anyone, regardless of gender, age, or race. However, most patients with ALS are between the ages of 40 and 60.
2. The more rare form of ALS is hereditary ALS , in which genetic disease is from a parent to a child. Only about 5-10% of ALS cases are hereditary.

The cause of ALS

Until now, the cause of the disease has not been determined. In addition, ALS is a disease caused by many interactions, based on changes in genes and possibly from environmental factors. The medical community has identified some genes that play a certain role in causing ALS.

Currently, about 200,000 people worldwide are living with ALS. Challenge the famous ice team that took place from 2014 to help the world community understand more about ALS and support charities.