Since there is no known cure, the goal of treatment in the end stages of ALS is to manage discomfort and other symptoms. Many health professionals recommend hospice care to help those in the end stages of ALS improve their quality of life and remain relatively comfortable. Hospice care teams improve the comfort and quality of life primarily by mitigating ALS symptoms, such as those mentioned above. Excessive pain is not a concern for many ALS patients, but muscle spasms and joint stiffness is often an issue.
Through pain relief medication, therapies and other care methods, hospice teams can help keep pain at a tolerable level. Hospice teams may also help patients breathe more effortlessly, assist them with eating and drinking and offer emotional and spiritual guidance. The main priority of family members is to simply be there for their loved one who is going through the end stages of ALS. This lets the person know that they are loved and helps them feel comfortable as they are surrounded by people they care about.
A primary role of hospice care is to take the responsibility away from family members ; they can assist the patient with activities of daily living ADLs , allowing family members to focus on spending time with their loved ones. In the early stages of ALS progression, patients tend to have weak muscles.
They might be weak and soft, or they could also be stiff, tight, and spastic. Loss of muscle bulk is also common. These symptoms may occur in only a single region of the body, or mild symptoms could affect more than one part of the body. The person might be fatigued, have poor balance, slur their words, have a weak grip, or trip when walking.
This stage often occurs before a diagnosis is made. In the middle stages of ALS, the symptoms in the muscles become more widespread. Some muscles might become paralysed, while others are unaffected or simply weakened. Unused muscles can result in contractures, where the joints become painful, rigid, and even deformed.
If a person falls, they may not be able to get back up on their own. They are no longer able to drive, and will experience weakness in swallowing, as well as increased difficulty in managing saliva and eating. Weakness in the breathing muscles can result in respiratory insufficiency, especially in lying down.
Some people experience uncontrollable and random crying or laughing bouts. By the final stages of ALS, most voluntary muscles have been paralysed. Mobility, by this point, is severely limited. Medications in the context of ALS treatment are usually drugs designed to alleviate symptoms like fatigue, muscle cramps, and spasticity.
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Doctors can also use certain treatment methods to manage the following symptoms:. People with ALS may need ventilators to help them breathe, especially during the later stages of the disease.
Those with ALS also experience increasing difficulties chewing and swallowing their food. This means that individuals with the condition can benefit from eating high energy foods, which helps prevent excessive weight loss. A speech therapist can help a person with ALS speak louder or more clearly if the condition affects how they talk.
A speech therapist can also recommend speech aids a person can use, such as eye-tracking technology or voice banking. Learn about speech therapy here. Because ALS involves such severe and painful symptoms, a person may face challenges with their mental health. Talking with a doctor or psychologist about seeking therapy or alternative treatments may benefit a person with this condition. Learn more tips about living with ALS here. While there are no set stages of the condition, early stages of the disease can involve muscle twitching or weakness.
Middle stages may include muscle paralysis or loss, while later stages lead to complications such as respiratory failure. Different treatment options, including mental health support, can help some people manage their lives with ALS. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS , or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a fatal degenerative neurological condition that causes progressive weakening.
Multiple sclerosis MS and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS both affect the central nervous system, but in different ways.
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