“There is a great deal of promising research ongoing that may lead to new treatments for ALS, but we are not quite there yet,” he says.One of the first song’s heard this season, “Live In The Moment,” was a promising indicator of what we would be in for musically, and it still holds up. McClean, it is important to realize that many of the symptoms of ALS can be treated, leading to a much higher quality of life. “There are currently no drugs or other treatments that can stop or reverse the progression of ALS. McClean says that Riluzole (brand name Rilutek) is the only FDA-approved medication for the treatment of ALS, and it has been available for almost 20 years.“ It slows progression of the disease somewhat, leading to prolonged survival of about 2-3 months on average, he says.
“Up to about 10 percent of people with ALS may live over 10 years, from the beginning of the disease,” he adds.ĭr. McClean, “the average time from the beginning of the disease until death is about 3 to 5 years.“ However, he says that there can be many variables from person to person. McClean says, “ALS is almost uniformly fatal.” He says, “this is because the progressive weakness eventually involves the muscles required for breathing, leading to respiratory failure and death.”Īccording to Dr. Part of the storyline in Empire is that Lucious’ disease is fatal.
To dig deeper into the medical side of the disease, we talked to Jeffery McClean, M.D., Assistant Professor of Neurology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, San Antonio Military Medical Center. It is fairly rare, in that 5,600 people on average are diagnosed each year. It’s the same ALS that caught the attention of the nation in a viral video campaign that had everyone from your old college roommate to your mom to celebrities like Kevin Hart, LeBron James, and Oprah Winfrey, dumping ice water on their heads in the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise money for research.Īmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which is also known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Henson and Terrence Howard, you know that the key storyline is centered on Howard’s character "Lucious Lyon's" diagnosis with ALS. If you’re watching the hit Fox show, “Empire,” starring Taraji P. Lucious (Terrence Howard, L) tells Anika that he has ALS in the "False Imposition" episode of EMPIRE on FOX.
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