What is ALS: Eric Dane, the actor who spent years playing Dr Mark Sloan on “Grey’s Anatomy” and Cal Jacobs on “Euphoria,” has died at 53 after a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He passed away less than a year after revealing publicly that he had been diagnosed with the disease.
What is ALS?
ALS is a degenerative neurological disease that attacks the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord responsible for controlling voluntary muscle movement. As those cells break down and die, the brain loses its ability to communicate with the muscles. The result is progressive weakness that eventually leads to paralysis.
The disease is named after baseball Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig, who was diagnosed in 1939 and died two years later, bringing the condition into public consciousness for the first time. It is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
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How many people does ALS affect?
Health officials classify ALS as a rare disease, but its reach is broader than many assume. Federal data shows nearly 33,000 Americans were living with the condition in 2022, and researchers project that number could exceed 36,000 by 2030. The disease is diagnosed slightly more often in men than in women, and most commonly strikes between the ages of 40 and 60.
What are the early signs of ALS?
ALS tends to announce itself quietly. Early symptoms can include muscle twitching or weakness in a single limb, difficulty gripping objects and unexplained tripping or stumbling. Because these signs are easy to overlook or attribute to other causes, diagnosis is often delayed.
As the disease progresses, muscles begin to cramp, and coordination deteriorates. Speech can become slurred, swallowing grows more difficult, and fatigue becomes a constant presence. Notably, the senses, sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch, remain largely unaffected, and many patients retain full cognitive awareness well into the illness.
What happens in the later stages?
In advanced stages, ALS reaches the muscles that control breathing, and respiratory failure is the leading cause of death among patients. Swallowing difficulties increase the risk of choking or inhaling food and liquid into the lungs. Many people eventually require feeding tubes and mechanical ventilation to survive.
Life expectancy after diagnosis averages two to five years, though outcomes vary. A smaller group of patients lives beyond five years. Physicist Stephen Hawking, the most well-known exception, lived with the disease for more than five decades.
Is there a cure for ALS?
There is no cure for ALS, and no single test exists to confirm a diagnosis. Doctors typically conclude by ruling out other conditions through physical exams, imaging and lab work.
One drug, riluzole, has been shown to modestly slow the disease’s progression in some patients. All other treatment focuses on managing symptoms and maintaining quality of life for as long as possible. As the disease advances, patients increasingly depend on assistive technology, such as braces, wheelchairs and communication devices, to preserve some measure of independence.
The cause of ALS remains unknown in most cases. A small percentage of diagnoses are linked to inherited genetic mutations, but the vast majority occur with no family history and no clear explanation.
