Lou Gehrig’s disease—also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis—is devastating. It took the life of my classmate, Stephen Heywood, when he was just 37 years old. A young dad, Heywood did not get to watch his son grow up.
This disease does not affect the mind but it does affect the motor neurons (the cells in your brain responsible for movement), which is why people suffering from ALS progressively lose control of their muscles, becoming unable to walk, speak, swallow, and—eventually—breathe.
