ALS is a very different disease. Therefore physical therapy treatment has to be different than what you would consider typical physical therapy. You can't fight it off or beat it with exercising. In fact, the wrong kind of exercising can actually make things worse.
Dr. Tawfiq Al-Lahham is a neurologist with a subspeciality in neuromuscular medicine. We discuss with Dr. Al-Lahham how expanding multidisciplinary care is helping to make ALS a livable disease for everyone, everywhere until a cure is found.
The ALS Association has launched My ALS Journey™, a new interactive, web-based tool that allows people living with ALS to take control of their journey with the disease. Developed in consultation with the ALS community, My ALS Journey is designed to put individuals living with ALS in the driver’s seat of their own health care journey.
ALS doesn’t care where a person lives, and a person with ALS in Florence, Italy is as much in need of reliable care and resources as someone in Florence, South Carolina. At the International Alliance of ALS/MND Association meeting in late 2022, proud “Mapper” members Amanda Stanko, senior solution engineer at Esri, and Pat (who joined remotely) shared how they are taking their clinic mapping tool internationally to provide the resource for people with ALS around the world.
For people with ALS, having access to an ALS multidisciplinary care center has been proven to both extend survival and enhance the quality of life for the people that attend. Clinics are neatly plotted on our locator map, making them easier for people living with ALS and their families to find.
A key component to making ALS a livable disease is multidisciplinary care. Studies have shown this specialized ALS care can extend survival and improve patients’ quality of life by providing coordinated interprofessional care that seeks to address the complex needs of people living with the disease.
More than 200 leaders from over 40 countries representing the International Alliance of ALS/MND Associations' many member associations came together, both in person and virtually, to share updates on the progress being made around the world in ALS care, support, technology, science and organizational development.
The ALS Association’s nationwide network of local care teams work tirelessly with families to provide education, support and resources to help. One of those care team members is Melissa Enfinger, director of care services in Alabama, who works very closely with the Woody family in Auburn.