ALS, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Dear Friends, 

Currently, My Father-In-Law is diagnosed with ALS, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The ONLY treatment is just lengthens survival by several months, how long ? Nobody Knows.

Please help to SHARE this to your friends. Currently, there is not much funding from the Charity and Government from what i know.

Up-Front Cost involved: a breathing machine, cough assist machine, a simple reno of the house for ramps, toilet doors for wheel chair, maybe a hospital bed =

~ $30k

(in the progress to get funding from Charity and Government.) Funding is based on the family's income.


Monthly Cost involved: maintenance of a breathing Machine ~$500
maid salary + Maid levy + meal ~ $1000
Patient's milk + diapers ~ $300-500
Consultation from Doctors ~ $200 every 2 months

another ~$2k expenses every month. This is a heavy financial burden to most families.

This is a est. cost once my father-in-law is discharged. For actual cost, i really have no idea.

Please kindly share and create awareness so that for ALS patients can benefit from Charity and Government in the future.


Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – also referred to as motor neurone disease in some Commonwealth of Nations countries and as Lou Gehrig's disease in the United States – is a debilitating disease with varied etiology characterized by rapidly progressive weakness, muscle atrophy and fasciculations, muscle spasticity, difficulty speaking (dysarthria), difficulty swallowing (dysphagia), and difficulty breathing (dyspnea). ALS is the most common of the five motor neuron diseases.

Treatment
Slowing progression
Riluzole (Rilutek) is the only treatment that has been found to improve survival but only to a modest extent.[34] It lengthens survival by several months, and may have a greater survival benefit for those with a bulbar onset. It also extends the time before a person needs ventilation support. Riluzole does not reverse the damage already done to motor neurons, and people taking it must be monitored for liver damage (occurring in ~10% of people taking the drug).[35] It is approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and recommended by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).

for more information,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amyotrophic_lateral_sclerosis.

Please kindly share and create awareness so that for ALS patients can benefit from Charity and Government in the future.