ROCK TO DEFEAT ALS

________Dr. Meersman and his wife Kathi, his sons Alex and Connor and his daughter Grace________THIS EVENT IS DEDICATED TO THE FAMILY OF DR. STEVE MEERSMAN-PART OF THE PROCEEDS WILL GO TO THE MEERSMAN FAMILY TRUST____________________________WHAT IS ALS? Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's disease," is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually lead to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.A-myo-trophic comes from the Greek language. "A" means no or negative. "Myo" refers to muscle, and "Trophic" means nourishment---"No muscle nourishment." When a muscle has no nourishment, it "atrophies" or wastes away. "Lateral" identifies the areas in a person's spinal cord where portions of the nerve cells that signal and control the muscles are located. As this area degenerates it leads to scarring or hardening ("sclerosis") in the region.As motor neurons degenerate, they can no longer send impulses to the muscle fibers that normally result in muscle movement. Early symptoms of ALS often include increasing muscle weakness, especially involving the arms and legs, speech, swallowing or breathing. When muscles no longer receive the messages from the motor neurons that they require to function, the muscles begin to atrophy (become smaller). Limbs begin to look "thinner" as muscle tissue atrophies.The body has many kinds of nerves. There are those involved in the process of thinking, memory, and of detecting sensations (such as hot/cold, sharp/dull), and others for vision, hearing, and other bodily functions. The nerves that are affected when you have ALS are the motor neurons that provide voluntary movements and muscle power. Examples of voluntary movements are your making the effort to reach for the phone or step off a curb; these actions are controlled by the muscles in the arms and legs.The heart and the digestive system are also made of muscle but a different kind, and their movements are not under voluntary control. When your heart beats or a meal is digested, it all happens automatically. Therefore, the heart and digestive system are not involved in ALS. Breathing also may seem to be involuntary. Remember, though, while you cannot stop your heart, you can hold your breath - so be aware that ALS may eventually have an impact on breathing. Although the cause of ALS is not completely understood, the recent years have brought a wealth of new scientific understanding regarding the physiology of this disease.While there is not a cure or treatment today that halts or reverses ALS, there is one FDA approved drug, Rilutek®, that modestly slows the progression of ALS as well as several other drugs in clinical trials that hold promise.Importantly, there are significant devise and therapies that can manage the symptoms of ALS that help people maintain as much independence as possible and prolong survival. It is important to remember that ALS is a quite variable disease; no two people will have the same journey or experiences. There are medically documented cases of people in whom ALS ‘burns out,’ stops progressing or progresses at a very slow rate. No matter what your individual course or situation may be, The ALS Association and your medical team are here to help. ___________________________________________________________ OTHER ALS FACTS: ALS is not contagious. It is estimated that ALS is responsible for nearly two deaths per hundred thousand population annually. More people die every year of ALS than of Huntington's disease or multiple sclerosis and it occurs two-thirds as frequently as multiple sclerosis. Approximately 5,600 people in the U.S.are diagnosed with ALS each year. The incidence of ALS (two per 100,000 people) is five times higher than Huntington's disease and about equal to multiple sclerosis. It is estimated that as many as 30,000 Americans may have the disease at any given time. Although the life expectancy of an ALS patient averages about two to five years from the time of diagnosis, this disease is variable and many people live with quality for five years and more. More than half of all patients live more than three years after diagnosis. About twenty percent of people with ALS live five years or more and up to ten percent will survive more than ten years and five percent will live 20 years. There are people in whom ALS has stopped progressing and a small number of people in whom the symptoms of ALS reversed. ALS occurs throughout the world with no racial, ethnic or socioeconomic boundaries. ALS can strike anyone. In 1991 a team of ALS Association-funded researchers linked familial ALS to chromosome 21. In 1993 the research team identified a defective SOD1 gene on chromosome 21 as responsible for many cases of familial ALS. Further study indicated over 60 mutations (structural defects) in the SOD (superoxide dismutase) enzyme which alters the enzyme's ability to protect against free radical damage to motor neurons. These studies open possibilities for future therapies or strategies to effectively mediate both familial and sporadic ALS. But much more research on the SOD enzyme is needed. Also, researchers have not ruled out other gene involvement (on other chromosomes) in ALS. ___________________________________________________________R OCK TO DEFEAT ALS is the brainchild of SPECTRIS guitarist Chris Bergmann and his wife Karin-After hearing from her about Dr. Stephen Meersman of Claremont, New Hampshire, who died after suffering with ALS for two years, they decided to organize a fundraiser to benefit all the people affected by the disease, also known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease". The event is endorsed by not only the ALS Association of Northern New England, but Dr. Meersman's family as well-part of the proceeds will go to his kids college fund. Help all the bands involved make this a huge success for all-contact Chris through this page if you have anything you're willing to donate-whether it's time, money, or anything that can be raffled-Thanks to all the bands and friends who are already putting their time and hearts into this event!.... </a