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Article: A.L.S.: "Lou Gehrig's disease" still needs a cure. (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)
- Article from:
- FDA Consumer
- Article date:
- January 1, 1984
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1984 U.S. Government Printing Office. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Etiology is a doctor's word for the cause--or causes--of a disease. Some of the most dreaded are of unknown etiology, because the less known about the cause of an illness, the less likely that there is a cure for it, or some way to prevent it or avoid getting it.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is that kind of disease, a devastating, disabling, eventually fatal ailment affecting the motor nerve cells that control the muscles, and for which, so far, no cure has been found. Not only are we in the dark about why it strikes, but we don't know whom, where and when it may strike.
What we do know is that ALS (as it's often called) generally affects the nerves ...