Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, affects motor neuron cells in the spinal cord.

At Oregon State University’s Environmental Health Sciences Center, ALS is an item of interest for student and faculty researchers.

“It’s a progressive, paralytic disease,” said 2013 Distinguished Professor Joe Beckman.

Beckman talked about the importance of research yesterday in his lecture: “Why study ALS at OSU?”

“Imagine six months from now I’m in a wheelchair and I can only blink with one eye and I now weigh 90 pounds with my shoulder dislocated because I won’t have enough muscle mass left,” Beckman said.

Motor neurons start to die at a very rapid rate, gradually weakening muscles and causing individuals to lose control of voluntary muscle movements.

The progressive degeneration of motor neurons eventually leads to death, according to the ALS Association.

Around 3,000 new cases of ALS are diagnosed every year in the United States.  (read more)