A short clinical perspective on the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Abstract

There are sporadic and inherited variants of the motor neuron disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Young and middle-aged persons are more likely to get ALS, and there aren't many therapies for it. Even though frontotemporal dementia mostly affects the nervous system and the fact that cognitive and behavioral symptoms have been documented for more than a decade, there are signs that ALS and frontotemporal degeneration coincide medically, radiologically, and pathologically, in addition to genetically. Cognitive decline in ALS is characterized by personality changes, irritability, obsessions, a lack of comprehension, and extensive abnormalities in frontal executive functions. The alterations in personality, social behavior, and executive function seen in frontotemporal dementia are consistent with this presentation. We also provide guidelines for the clinical assessment of frontotemporal dysfunction in patients with ALS. Improved protection for victims and their households as well as useful insights into the biology of neurodegeneration will result from knowledge of cognitive damage in ALS.