3 ms·

I know very little about ALS, other than I'm aware that it exists and is a nervous system disease. How quick is the onset once someone does develop it? Is it a

I know very little about ALS, other than I'm aware that it exists and is a nervous system disease. How quick is the onset once someone does develop it? Is it a gradual decline, a rapid decline, or do they just wake up one morning and can't move (falls off a cliff)? "Right to try" might be worthless in the last case. (Unless there's reason to believe that it's reversible with some as-of-yet uninvented treatment.)

SoftTalker 3y ago
It varies. Stephen Hawking lived with it for many years. For most people, 2-5 years of steady decline is normal between diagnosis and death. In some people it progresses more rapidly, in others much more slowly. I don't think we really know why.