» 80% of all ALS cases are between the ages of 40-70
» With identical twins, if one has the disease, the other will get it, but time of onset can vary
» The longest known person to live with ALS is British physicist Dr. Stephen Hawking, who has lived for 40 years with the disease
» Besides Lou Gehrig, ALS struck Hall of Fame pitcher Jim "Catfish" Hunter, boxing champion Ezzard Charles, composer Dimitri Shostakovich, actors David Niven and Michael Zaslow, and vice-president Henry Wallace
» Incidence: about 2 per 100,000 people--five times higher than Huntington's Disease
» Prevalence: about 11 per 100,000 people
» About 5,600 cases are diagnosed every year in the US--that is roughly 15 cases a day
» There are about 30,000 people with ALS in the US at any given time
» About 350,000 people worldwide are affected by the disease
» More people die from ALS than Multiple Sclerosis or Huntington's Disease