Articles of category "Lou Gehrig's Disease (kids and teens)"

Also known as ALS or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's Disease can take a toll on a child. It is a progressive neural disease that causes nerves cells to degenerate and the muscles lose voluntary control. The muscles then atrophy and contract. The sad part in all of this disease process is that the person's brain still works and functions like it did before the disease took over their body.

Lou Gehrig's talk, presented to thousands before a Yankee game, forced many youth to deal with a subject that most youth prefer to avoid - death. Although Lou Gehrig did not die immediately, the diagnosis of ALS indicated that his body was already deteriorating. That deterioration is irreversible, and its result is inescapable. During the 1930s, many young baseball fans had to deal with those facts.