Minor Symptoms Turned Out To Be A Major-League Di sease (NAPSA)—Like most people starting retirement, Angela S.* was thinking NG eid about how to manage volunteer work, help her children finish college, and just starting to consider ‘what's the next chapter; when her husband, Shawn, no- ticed that she was having trouble tying her shoelaces. They joked that she was either too stressed or too relaxed, but weak, she finally went to a doctor. It The more Americansliving with ALS learn about the disease the better they'll be able to deal with it. Sclerosis (ALS), called ALS, sometimes generations won't have to even worry when Angela's left leg started feeling turned out to be Amyotrophic Lateral called Lou Gehrig's disease. ALS is a progressive disease—it gets worse over time—that attacks the nerve cells that control voluntary movement. No one knows for sure what causes ALS, and aboutit, ever” May is ALS awareness month. In 1939, Lou Gehrig, a beloved baseball player, first broughtattentionto this disease that sadly bears his name. Over 78 there is no knowncure. After seeing a neurologist, Angela and Shawndid little research to try to understand this disease. They learned that ALS affects nervecells in the brain and the spinal cord that send messages throughoutthe body. When these nerves years later, researchers have made some becometotally weak and thenparalyzed. “Of course we were completely overwhelmedat first,” says Angela. “Shawn ALS Registry to gather confidential health information from people who are living with the disease. You can learn more about the registry from start to die, the brain can’t control muscle movement. Ultimately, patients can was myrock, but I’m worried about him too—I depend on him more and more.” Angela has become somewhat of an expert. “We want to do everything we can to help ourselves now—and we want to help researchers understand more about this disease so that future inroads into understanding someof the causes and are working hard to put togetherpieces of this puzzle. Because learning more about ALS is an important step in the battle to defeat it, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has developed the National www.cde.gov/ALS. Dr. Paul Mehta, a medical expert with the ATSDR, explains, “this information can help doctors and scientists learn more as we work towards what causes ALS and possibly better treatments.” *Based onreal people; the names are not used to protect patient privacy.
