ALS
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that controls voluntary muscle movement.
Diseases Treatable by Stem Cells
| 1988 | 1 |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 200+ |
Causes
In about 10% of cases, ALS is caused by a genetic defect, in most cases, the cause is unknown. In ALS, nerve cells (neurons) waste away or die, and can no longer send messages to muscles. This eventually leads to muscle weakening, twitching and an inability to move the arms, legs, and body. The condition slowly gets worse. When the muscles in the chest area stop working, it becomes hard or impossible to breathe on one's own.
ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. ALS affects approximately 1 out of every 100,000 people. Except for having a family member who has a hereditary form of the disease, there are no known risk factors.
Symptoms
Symptoms usually do not develop until after the age of 50. Persons with ALS have a loss of muscle strength and coordination that eventually gets worse. This eventually makes one unable to do routine tasks such as going up steps, getting out of a chair or swallowing. Breathing or swallowing muscles may be the first muscles affected. As the disease gets worse, more muscle groups develop problems. The other senses are left unaffected.
Symptoms include:
- Difficulty breathing
- Difficulty swallowing
- Gagging
- Chokes easily
- Head drop due to weak spinal and neck muscles
- Muscle cramps
- Muscle weakness that slowly gets worse
- Commonly involves one part of the body first, such as the arm or hand
- Eventually leads to difficulty lifting, climbing stairs and walking
- Paralysis
- Speech problems, such as a slow or abnormal speech pattern
- Voice changes, hoarseness
Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease:
- Drooling
- Muscle contractions
- Muscle spasms
- Ankle, feet and leg swelling
- Weight loss
Causes Symptoms
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that controls voluntary muscle movement.
Diseases Treatable by Stem Cells
| 1988 | 1 |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 200+ |
Causes
In about 10% of cases, ALS is caused by a genetic defect, in most cases, the cause is unknown. In ALS, nerve cells (neurons) waste away or die, and can no longer send messages to muscles. This eventually leads to muscle weakening, twitching and an inability to move the arms, legs, and body. The condition slowly gets worse. When the muscles in the chest area stop working, it becomes hard or impossible to breathe on one's own.
ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. ALS affects approximately 1 out of every 100,000 people. Except for having a family member who has a hereditary form of the disease, there are no known risk factors.
Symptoms
Symptoms usually do not develop until after the age of 50. Persons with ALS have a loss of muscle strength and coordination that eventually gets worse. This eventually makes one unable to do routine tasks such as going up steps, getting out of a chair or swallowing. Breathing or swallowing muscles may be the first muscles affected. As the disease gets worse, more muscle groups develop problems. The other senses are left unaffected.
Symptoms include:
- Difficulty breathing
- Difficulty swallowing
- Gagging
- Chokes easily
- Head drop due to weak spinal and neck muscles
- Muscle cramps
- Muscle weakness that slowly gets worse
- Commonly involves one part of the body first, such as the arm or hand
- Eventually leads to difficulty lifting, climbing stairs and walking
- Paralysis
- Speech problems, such as a slow or abnormal speech pattern
- Voice changes, hoarseness
Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease:
- Drooling
- Muscle contractions
- Muscle spasms
- Ankle, feet and leg swelling
- Weight loss
Medical Tests
An exam of the nerves and muscles shows weakness, often beginning in one area. There may be muscle tremors, spasms, twitching or loss of muscle tissue (atrophy). Atrophy and twitching of the tongue are common.
The person's walk may be stiff or clumsy. Reflexes may be abnormal and may include loss of the gag reflex. Some patients have trouble controlling crying or laughing. This is sometimes called "emotional incontinence."
Tests that may be done include:
- Blood tests to rule out other conditions
- Breathing test to see if lung muscles are affected
- EMG to see which nerves do not work properly
- Genetic testing, if there is a family history of ALS
- Head CT or MRI of head to rule out other conditions
- Swallowing studies
- Spinal tap (lumbar puncture)
Conventional Treatment
There is no known cure for ALS. The first drug treatment for the disease is a medicine called riluzole. Riluzole may prolong life, but does not reverse or stop the disease from getting worse.
The goal of treatment is to control symptoms. Baclofen or diazepam may be used to control spasticity that interferes with activities of daily living. Trihexyphenidyl or amitriptyline may be prescribed for people with problems swallowing their own saliva.
Physical therapy, rehabilitation, use of braces or a wheelchair or other orthopedic measures may be needed to maximize muscle function and general health. Choking is common. Patients may decide to have a tube placed into their stomach for feeding. This is called a gastrostomy.
A nutritionist is very important to help prevent weight loss. The illness itself appears to increase the need for food and there is usually limited ability to swallow.
The use of devices to assist in breathing includes machines that are only used at night as well as constant mechanical ventilation. Patients should discuss their views regarding artificial ventilation with their families and doctors.
Stem Cell Therapy
Numerous clinical trials are going on all over the world, including India, using stem cells from various sources.
We, at ReeCure offer you therapy using stem cells using our proprietary technology.
These stem cells could be of various types viz. Hematopoietic (CD 34+), Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that are processed and isolated using Good Manufacturing (GMP) and Good Lab Practices (GLP) and in accordance with AABB standards.
After years of extensive research and systematic compilation and collation of relevant data (through its research division), ReeLabs is now supremely confident of not only reversing the disease process of the affected patient but also improving the quality of life manifold. Stem cells produced by ReeLabs are completely safe, non-toxic, easy to administer and totally devoid of side effects with an excellent probability of homing and engraftment with parent cell, tissue or organ. The eminent panel of scientists and researchers at ReeLabs work exhaustively to design accurate treatment protocols that have yielded excellent results in most cases.
These stem cells are procured from various sources including bone marrow, cord blood, fat, etc. as per the requirement of the patient.
Stem cells in ALS are used primarily to:
- Reverse the nerve function by regeneration of dead nerves of the brain and the spinal cord.
- Improve muscle tone and quality of the affected muscles of the body.
- Improve paralysis in these patients.
- Assume better control over their head movements (especially in children).
- General improvement in the quality of life.
