eFit – HCP: Neurodegenerative Disease

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s disease is a debilitating disease in which motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord slowly die. Motor neurons control the muscles that allow movement making it more and more difficult to walk, speak, eat, swallow and breathe. (1) Eighty per cent of people with ALS die within 2-5 years of diagnosis and some people die within a few months. 10% of those affected may live 10 years or longer.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, unpredictable, progressive and disabling autoimmune disease with significant neurodegenerative and inflammatory components. To effectively treat and care for older persons with MS, it is essential to examine the factors associated with a decrease in their quality of life. (4) MS can be very difficult to diagnose and it often takes a long time to get a definite diagnosis. Disability progresses more rapidly in older adults than in younger people with MS. (5)

Parkinson’s Disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease. Movement is normally controlled by dopamine, a chemical that carries signals between the nerves in the brain. (8) When cells that normally produce dopamine die, the symptoms of Parkinson’s appear.