It became well known in the United States in the 20th century when in 1939 it affected baseball player Lou Gehrig (leading to his death two years later), and later worldwide, following the 1963 diagnosis of then 21 year old cosmologist Stephen Hawking. However, unlike most individuals with ALS, Hawking managed to survive his illness for another 55 years. The first ALS gene was discovered in 1993 while the first animal model was developed in 1994. In 2014, videos of the Ice Bucket Challenge went viral on the Internet and increased public awareness of the condition. Classification
ALS is a motor neuron disease, also spelled "motor neurone disease", which is a group of neurological disorders that selectively affect motor neurons, the cells that control voluntary muscles of the body. Other motor neuron diseases include primary lateral sclerosis (PLS), progressive muscular atrophy (PMA), progressive bulbar palsy, pseudobulbar palsy, and monomelic amyotrophy (MMA).ALS itself can be classified in a few different ways: by how fast the disease progresses which is related to the age of onset; by whether it is familial or sporadic, and by the region first affected. In about 25% of cases, muscles in the face, mouth, and throat are affected first because motor neurons in the part of the brainstem called the medulla oblongata (formerly called the "bulb") start to die first along with lower motor neurons. This form is called "bulbar-onset ALS". In about 5% of cases, muscles in the trunk of the body are affected first.
Etymology
The word ankyloblepharon is derived from Greek ankylos (ἀγκύλος) bent, crooked, closed and blepharon (βλέφαρον) eyelid. See also
Symblepharon
Blepharophimosis


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