[CarmelValleyite]

Agreed -- I worked for the ALS Association here in an L.A. suburb some years back. It was by far the saddest environment I've ever worked in -- people or their relatives, newly diagnosed, called in frequently for advice on everything imaginable.

Staffers were often in tears from the stories, but I'm glad I did my stint there -- I agree that ALS is about the worst disease one can be diagnosed with, along with inoperable cancer and rapid progression MS (no remissions, all downhill).

A friend's father got it at 64 and was dead within a year. That friend lives every day in fear that he may have inherited that "gene." Very sad...

[PPHSFL]

Something that I would like to know is how some people with ALS die within a year while others live for 5-10 years, even longer. What causes this?