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Does 2020 hold a new future for ALS?
When I was diagnosed in 2010, I was told life expectancy was only 2-5 years. But now in 2020, that has been challenged by patients living much longer. In addition, we now know how to identify slow progressors and, how to slow down progression of symptoms.
In fact, the ALS Association updated their “Facts You Should Know” page to include the statement: While the average survival time is three years, about 20 percent of people with ALS live five years, 10 percent will survive 10 years and 5 percent will live 20 years or longer.
Through his Study of ALS Reversals (STAR) project Dr. Bedlack, has identified 45 patients who had been diagnosed with ALS, and now are symptom-free.
That to me, is a significant paradigm shift: one that says, ALS doesn’t always have to be a terminal disease! And I wrote a column about it here: A New Paradigm for the Future of ALS.
Are you aware of the 45 “ALS reversals?” How does that change your understanding of ALS and your own expectations for your (or your pALS’) prognosis?
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