Ameotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) sometimes known as ‘Lou Gehrig’s Disease’ is a disease that leads to progressive wasting of neurons. It is referred to as Lou Gehrig after one of America’s greatest baseball players Lou Gehrig who was diagnosed with the disease. It tempers with the nerve network within the brain and those of the spinal cord. Being progressive, the affected motor neurons (normally charged with the sending of impulses from the brain to the spinal cord and then the muscles and vice versa) eventually die incapacitating the brain from having any control over the affected muscles. This eventually leads to paralysis in advanced stages of the disease (Mitsumoto 12). So far, the exact cause of this disease has not been identified. Studies are still being carried out to ascertain the real cause. However, some researchers have explained that the disease comes as a result of environmental or genetic reasons. According to data, ninety percent of the cases of this disease are usually not acquired from their parents. This is referred to as ‘sporadic ALS.’ However, ten percent of the cases are reported to have been transferred to children from parents. These cases are known as ‘Familial ALS’ (FALS). Comparatively, the symptoms of ALS usually occur earlier in FALS cases than in sporadic ALS. Grandchildren from a child who never inherited the gene will automatically not inherit it. Furthermore, the fact that one inherits the gene of mutation does not guarantee that the person will develop the ALS symptoms (Mitsumoto 26). ALS is prevalent in people born from parents with the ALS. However, it has also been noted that ALS is more prevalent in people whose age is between the forth and fifth decade. Before attaining the age of six decades, people of the male gender are more likely to develop ALS than their female counterparts. Approximately thirty thousand Americans have ALS at all times. Of the mentioned number, sixty percent are men. In addition, ninety-three percent of the total cases are Caucasians. Although not yet clarified, studies are still being carried out to ascertain the role of smoking and high exposure to lead in the development of ALS. There are also studies pointing that ex-military men are at a higher risk of attaining ALS. The cause is not clearly specified but could be high exposure to lead and other chemicals, injuries, and finally extreme exertion (Strong 32). ALS’ initial symptoms sometimes become so slight that most people barely recognize them (Pollin & Golant 49). Furthermore, different people experience different initial symptoms. However, the most commonly experienced symptoms include weakened muscles on limbs and other parts of the body. This includes parts like hands, legs, muscles of the throat including swallowing and breathing muscles and breathing muscles. This results in cases of patients tripping over very small objects like the edge of a carpet. Other people experience weakened muscles of speech. In this case, the person exhibits a slurred speech. For those with weakened muscles of the arms and hands, they have trouble lifting objects. Another notable symptom of ALS is the constant experiencing abnormal fatigue. This could be experienced in the hands, legs, or in some cases both. Another main symptom of ALS is experiencing cramping and twitching of muscles time after time. In some cases, t