1. Never Give Up ALS By Anna W. Period 5 Lou Gehrig

2. ALS • Form of a Motor Neuron Disease • Effects and kills Motor Neurons, nerve cells in the central nervous system • Ruins voluntary muscle movement • IS fatal

3. Diagram • Normal neuron and Muscle • Healthy neuron • ALS affected muscle • Dying cell body • Thin decaying myelin • Wasted muscle

4. SYMPTOMS • Early Symptoms • Weak muscles • Slurred speech • Later Symptoms • Unable to stand or walk • Cannot preform manual tasks • Loss of speech and swalloing

5. Who gets it • ALS is not contagious • About 30,000 people have ALS in the US • Few thousand diagnosis in the Bay Area • FALS (familial ALS) is genetic • 10% of adult ALS onsets is hereditary • Ages 40-60 mostly get ALS • Occationally aged 20

6. K K • My grandmother who was diagnosed with ALS • She has to be helped with everything • Has lost her speech • Uses voice apps on her iphone

7. My Inspiration • KK inspired me to do my HDP on ALS • Whenever I think of her it reminds me, things in my life could be worse, and to never give up. • Learning about ALS brought me a lot closer to my grandmother, who won’t be around for much longer because usually ALS kills you in 5-7 years, KK is in her forth year.

8. No One Knows • Not much at all is known about ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease at the moment. • Not the cause . . . • Or the cure. • But more is being discovered everyday, so someday there will be a cure. • I want to help scientists find it, And I’ll never give up. (Never Give Up is the ALS Association’s slogan)