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ALS statistics
- Most people who develop ALS are between the ages of 40 and 70, although
the disease can occur at a younger age.
- It occurs throughout the world with no racial, ethnic or socioeconomic
boundaries.
- It affects as many as 30,000 in the United States, with 5,000 new
cases diagnosed each year.
- Estimates suggest that ALS is responsible for as many as five of every
100,000 deaths in people aged 20 or older. ALS is most common among
persons over age 60.
- The incidence of ALS is five times higher than Huntington's disease
and about equal to multiple sclerosis.
Many ALS patients can live longer and more productive lives because of
current research into the cause, prevention and cure for the disease.
Improvements in medical management, including nutrition and breathing,
regularly increase patient survival. Fifty percent of affected patients
live at least three or more years after diagnosis; 20 percent live five
years or more; and up to 10 percent will survive more than ten years.
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