ALS is not a brain disease. it is a buildup of toxins that the body stores in the sides of the spinal column (Lateral) that harden the nerves (Schlerosis) which causes paralysis/atrophy (Amyotrophic) of first the voluntary muscles, starting with the extremities, and continues to progress until the victim's body no longer functions. it has no effect on the brain, as the brain is not a muscle.
the damaged gene that is normally responsible for ridding the body of those toxins can be inherited, mostly by male children, as it is found on the sex chromosome. in order for a female child to inherit the kind of ALS that runs in my family, both parents would have passed it along. (so glad to say i have girls) how that damage occurs is still rather controversial, but in my father's family i have no doubt it was originally from war trauma. this is consistent with the high rate of ALS in more modern veterans of war. time will tell if their boy children also inherit the condition, or if maybe the buildup of toxins has some other source.
when my father was drafted into the vietnam war, they gave him 4F and six months to live. later he participated in a study on the effectiveness of dextromethorphan (an ingredient in most cough syrup) which halted the progression of the disease for him. it did not work consistently for enough of the patients in the study to be approved as a treatment, but he continued to take DM until AIDS treatment demanded that he stop. at that point, ALS started progressing again and killed him in short order, at the age of 46.
