Why is ALS awareness so important?

What is so different about ALS compared to other diseases/ conditions?

There is no single test that can diagnose ALS/ Lou Gehrig's Disease. The process to diagnosis involves eliminating many other conditions, with a multitude of tests and scans. It is common for a patient to receive an ALS diagnosis long after they experience their first symptom. 8 to 14 months is the average

ALS is always fatal. The average life expectancy is 2 to 5 years from symptom onset. ALS is not contagious and has no cure.

ALS is a progressive disease. It methodically destroys the ability to walk, talk, eat, swallow, move and breathe…in any random order. The end result is total paralysis and respiratory failure, leading to suffocation.

ALS leaves the mind and the senses fully intact. A person can feel everything, hear everything, see everything… but are locked inside of a frozen body, unable to ask for help if they feel pain, need to scratch a bug bite or scream as a massive spider is approaching.

ALS can strike anyone, at any time.…any age, any gender, and any race.

90% of ALS diagnosis are random/ sporadic. Only 10% are familial/inherited.

Every 90 minutes in America: There is 1 new ALS diagnosis and there is 1 ALS death. Those figures continuously offset each other, keeping the total number of people with ALS in America around 30,000.

It is estimated that the total number of Americans living with ALS by 2040 will have increased by 34%.

This means 1 in 300 people will receive an ALS diagnosis in their lifetime.

Public awareness of ALS/ Lou Gehrig's disease is imperative to making a change in the ALS world.

With ALS, doing nothing will result in one guaranteed outcome: Death via ALS.