The mission of the Minnesota Chapter of the ALS Association is to improve living with ALS and help find a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Motor neurons extend from the brain to the spinal cord and to muscles throughout the body.
When these motor neurons die, as with ALS, the ability of the brain to start and control muscle movement dies with them. With all voluntary muscle action affected, people with ALS become gradually paralyzed, usually losing their speech and swallowing abilities and eventually their ability to breathe. In most cases, the disease is fatal in less than five years following diagnosis. Through the course of the disease, peoples' minds remain acute and unaffected. ALS occurs throughout the world with no racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic boundaries.