ALS and CTE’s connection with young athletes The Ice Bucket Challenge and a simple hit in the head are nothing compared to ALS and CTE’s. ALS and CTE’s are horrific diseases that impact the lives of people every year. They have recently became an even bigger issue as more and more young adults have been getting diagnosed with these diseases. Specifically, young athletes have been the victims of these diseases and now the sports world is reacting by making sports safer, even if it means changing up the game. Changing up the game is causing a lot of corruption in the sports world because people believe the game can’t be played right with recent rule changes that will affect what the game is all about. They believe …show more content…
This disease slowly paralyzes the muscles in your body one by one till you eventually choke on saliva or your heart can no longer function. Death does not come until about 2-5 years after diagnosis, but you will eventually die from it no matter what, because sadly there's no treatments for it. The doctors may give you medication to deal with it but it always kills. ALS is a central nervous system disease that begins in the brain and spinal cord. The nerve cells ,also known as motor neurons, are greatly affected which lead to cell deaths and bodily dysfunctions. For example, one by one the muscles in your body become malnourished and weaken which causes muscle loss and control which is what leads to paralyzation due to the dysfunctional ,dead cells. Your mind is still very aware of everything well this is all happening and is the last to go. Some symptoms you may notice when people have been diagnosed with ALS are of course paralyzation, death, difficulty swallowing, impairment of the voice, impacted everyday functions, problemed coordination, stiffness, and weight loss. The older you get the higher the risk is for you to get this disease, but it is more commonly found in contact sport athletes, like rugby or football players, and Veterans who may have suffered from head injuries. Not every athlete with multiple major head injuries will get ALS but now more than ever athletes are being diagnosed with ALS at a younger age the ‘’ALS and Athletics Association’’ have found that exercise and genetics play a big role, but not just exercise from following along a dance routine on T.V. The exercise from being in a contact sport that causes multiple head hits, injuries, and trauma to occur over and over. It is also found that genetics can cause you to have a higher risk and those athletes who were diagnosed with the disease had ALS in