Lou Gehrig’s Disease Symptoms, Causes, Treatment and Info

More Info. Lou Gehrig’s disease causes the degeneration of motor neurons. These reach from the brain to the spinal cord and on to the muscles in the body, controlling movement. When these motor neurons are damaged or die, the brain loses the ability to initiate movement and voluntarily control the muscles, from the arms and legs to the tongue and throat. As such, severe complications begin to arise. In addition to losing the ability to walk on one’s own or control the limbs, a patient with ALS will develop breathing, eating, and speaking problems, as these muscles will also eventually succumb to paralysis. Patients will require constant, intensive in-home care just to survive, and the equipment necessary for feeding the patient, assisting him/her with breathing, and enabling him/her to communicate is extensive and costly. The most common cause of death in ALS patients is actually not the disease itself: it is respiratory failure.