What is motor neuron disease? Motor neuron disease is a chronic disease that selectively damages the anterior horn of the spinal cord, pontine motor nuclei and pyramidal tracts. It occurs in the upper and lower poles of motor neurons and is degenerative in nature. The cause of this disease is still unclear, although many studies have been conducted and hypotheses of lentiviral infection, abnormal immune function, genetic factors, heavy metal poisoning, nutritional and metabolic disorders, and environmental factors causing the disease have been proposed, but none of them has been confirmed. As soon as the patient suffers from this disease, there is a gradual muscle atrophy and finally the patient dies of inability to breathe while conscious. This is why the patient is also called “acromegaly”. Motor neuron disease is also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, amyotrophic spinal cord lateral sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, motor neuron disease, and MND. The main manifestation of motor neuron disease is paralysis caused by damage to upper or lower motor neurons, with combined damage to upper and lower motor neurons being the most common, mainly manifesting as muscle atrophy and weakness in the affected area. In general, there are 2 major types of motor neurons in the body: upper motor neurons and lower motor neurons. Problems with upper motor neurons produce muscle stiffness and increased reflexes, which clinically cause patients to walk with jumping and uncoordinated movements. Because of the enhanced reflexes, sometimes the patient’s knees will shake all the time, which are all symptoms of the upper motor neuron. As for lower motor neuron, the symptoms are mainly muscle atrophy, weakness, and muscle tremors, which usually appear in the muscles between the palms and fingers, tiger mouth atrophy, and slowly deteriorate to atrophy of the shoulders, neck, tongue, and swallowing muscles, causing difficulty swallowing and respiratory failure. Motor neuron diseases are classified as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, progressive spinal muscular atrophy, primary lateral sclerosis, and progressive medullary palsy. The lesion process is mostly the same for all types of motor neuron disease, with the main difference being the location of the lesion. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis can be considered as the representative of this group of diseases, while other types are its variants. 1, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Most of the disease develops insidiously at the age of 40-60, with single/bilateral upper/lower extremity weakness, muscle contracture, muscle bundle tremor and atrophy. Early onset is mostly upper limb weakness. It is characterized by typical upper and lower neuronal damage and can also affect the neck, tongue, pharynx, and larynx with symptoms of medullary paralysis and finally life-threatening involvement of the trunk and respiratory muscles. Even if the disease is long and severe, the patient always has no sensory impairment. 2, progressive spinal muscular atrophy: most patients have weakness and atrophy of one or both hand muscles, visible tremor of muscle bundles, hypotonia, weakened or absent tendon reflexes, and claw-shaped hands in severe cases. Myasthenia gravis and muscle weakness can progress upward, sensory nerves are not involved, and a few patients can have symptoms in the lower extremities. 3, primary lateral sclerosis: adult onset, slow progression of the disease, often first invade the lower thoracic segment of the corticospinal tract, the appearance of bilateral lower limbs weakness, stiffness, walking in a spastic gait, gradually involving both upper limbs. 4. Progressive medullary paralysis: The disease starts with gradually increasing symptoms of medullary paralysis, manifested as difficulty in swallowing, choking on water, slurred speech, weak cough, and even difficulty in breathing. Signs and symptoms of somatic motor neuron damage appear simultaneously or later. Through the above introduction, you must have deepened your understanding of motor neuron disease, motor neuron disease can not be separated from the treatment, effective treatment can curb the deterioration of the disease and prolong the life of patients, the famous scientist Stephen Hawking is a miracle created under scientific treatment, prolonging the life of decades. So patients must have confidence in the treatment.