Eric Dane dies at 53

That is tragic. Didn’t know he had ALS. Loved The Last Ship.

shite that was quick. Last video I saw around Christmas, he could barely talk.

He was flawless in The Last Ship.
Godspeed.

That got him fast

quote:

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My great uncle had it. It doesn't kill people that fast

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It can absolutely kill people that fast. My coworker passed recently from ALS and it went incredibly fast. His doctor told him it’s different for everyone, but if the symptoms start high on the body (voice, neck, head, etc.), it goes much quicker than if the symptoms start lower on the body. I can’t attest to that being the case, but it was for him. It started in his vocal cords, and he passed less than a year after symptoms started.

ETA - he had bulbar-onset ALS and the life expectancy is much shorter for people with that type. High-up is what he told me but it looks like bulbar-onset is when the first symptoms are with the vocal cords and swallowing muscles.

God damn man. He wasn’t even diagnosed a year ago. ALS is probably the scariest thing that can happen to you, even more so than cancer and Alzheimer’s

ALS is a son of a bitch. My wife's uncle died at 40. He was a strong, athletic goofball who worked in the oil field. He went from that to needing his elderly parents to put him on the toilet within a couple years of his diagnosis. Died not long after.

Damn. That is an incredibly rapid decline even for ALS. I would imagine there must have been a complication like pneumonia or something

RIP

Everyone’s case is different except for the inevitable outcome. Some are at least afforded a quick exit, others may go 5-6 years. We’ve found a cure for Huntingtons, desperately hoping at least a treatment option isnt far off for ALS. There may not ever be a full cure for it but the hope is to get it to a place like MS where treatment options can at least slow it to the point that many can live into their 70s with relatively active lives.

Unfortunately, we’re all likely to hear and see more and more ALS cases arise as the current population continues to age. A belief is that exposure to chemicals and hard metals in the 1960s-80s likely play an epigenetic role in activating genes that cause eventual motor neuron death. Beyond that, military veterans from Nam and the Gulf War era seem to be particularly susceptible as a result of exposure to chemicals and burn piles, same too with professional athletes (especially football) as a result of head and spinal trauma sustained over decades.

Truly one of those diseases that deserves as much research dollars and attention as cancer but just hasn’t gotten the same level of consistent attention. The ice water challenge a few years ago helped propel things forward but it needs more attention than just the occasional viral trend or celebrity case.