About The ALS Association Western Pennsylvania Chapter
Each year, The ALS Association Western Pennsylvania Chapter serves nearly 400 people living with ALS. Through the highest quality patient care services, international research programs, and fearless advocacy efforts, we are working to provide help and hope to people living with ALS and their families. The ALS Association provides a range of services such as equipment loans, home visits from social workers, transportation services, and multidisciplinary clinics.
Our Mission is to discover treatments and a cure for ALS, and to serve, advocate for, and empower people affected by ALS to live their lives to the fullest.
About ALS
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal, progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. People with ALS often lose their ability to walk, talk, use their arms, and eventually breathe. ALS is always fatal, typically within 2-5 years from diagnosis. There is no known cure and only four drugs approved by the FDA that modestly extend survival and slow the progression of symptoms. For unknown reasons, veterans are twice as likely to be diagnosed with ALS.
ALS has no racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic boundaries and there is a family history of ALS in only 10% of cases. Today, there are approximately 30,000 people in the US living with ALS and over 5,000 people are diagnosed each and every year in the US.
