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Brian Randall died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at the age of 57.
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,At this time we ask for privacy to cry And accept the impossibility of saying goodbye to Brian”.
That was the expression of the family of American photographer Brian Randall, who died on August 5 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease that affects the nervous system in a degenerative and progressive way, causing irreversible motor paralysis.
The death of Randall, 57, was announced through a statement released by US magazine People,
The photographer had an eight-year relationship with actress Sandra Bullock, who nursed him for three years during his illness.
Randall’s family claimed that the photographer “He chose to keep his journey with ALS private from the start,
“Those of us who care about him did everything possible to honor his request.
,At this time we ask for privacy to cry And accept the impossibility of saying goodbye to Brian”.
Randall’s family asked those who wish to honor his memory to do so by donating to the ALS Association and Massachusetts General Hospital.
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British physicist Stephen Hawking, who died in 2018, was one of the most famous ALS sufferers.
What is ALS?
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive disease with no cure.
According to statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), it is considered one of the motor neuronal diseases, which affects two out of every 100,000 people on the planet.
occurs when Neurons degenerate or die in patients affected by the disease And they can no longer send messages to the muscles.
This causes muscle weakness in the short and medium term, involuntary contractions, and the inability to move the arms, legs, and body.
It usually begins with muscle spasms and weakness in one arm or leg, difficulty swallowing or speaking, but as it progresses It affects the ability to move and even breathe.
According to the Mayo Clinic, respiratory failure is the most common cause of death for people with ALS.
Weakness in the muscles involved in swallowing also increases the risk of food, fluid or saliva getting into the lungs, which can lead to pneumonia.
Death usually occurs between three and five years after diagnosis. However, some patients survive longer than that time.
About 10% of people with ALS have a genetic or hereditary cause. According to this medical institution, in the rest of the cases the cause is unknown.
ALS is one of the leading neurodegenerative diseaseswith Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
According to the Brazilian Ministry of Health, age is the most important predictive factor for its presence, being more prevalent in patients aged 55 to 75 years.
British physicist Stephen Hawking, who passed away in 2018, was one of the most famous ALS sufferers. He lived with the disease for 54 years, a phenomenon for which most scientists have no adequate explanation.
ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, named after the former New York Yankees baseball player who suffered from it and died in 1941 at age 38.
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Age is the most important predictive factor for its presence, being more prevalent in patients aged 55 to 75 years.
symptoms of disease
Symptoms usually begin to appear after the age of 50, but they can also appear in younger people.
The disease usually does not affect the sensesWhich includes the ability to taste, smell, see, touch and hear.
Among the symptoms, people with ALS present:
- gradual loss of muscle strength and coordination;
- inability to perform routine tasks such as climbing stairs, walking, and lifting objects;
- difficulty breathing and swallowing;
- Choking easily;
- muscle twitching;
- speech problems, such as slow or unusual speech patterns (slurred speech);
- change in voice, wheezing;
danger of trouble ALS linked to environmental factorss, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Evidence shows that smoking is a risk factor, as is exposure to lead or other substances in the workplace or home.
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