For the second time we (with Ton Sassen, AMC) gave a college at the HvA. This time for the foreign students physical therapy. Main course was to show signs and symptoms of lower- and upper motor neuron degeneration. The theory was recognized with the ‘live’ view of atrophy, muscle spasm, hyper reflexes, discoördination and muscle weakness. Second message was to be alert for patients they see in practice with unexplainable complaints. Have a thorough knowledge of neurology and testing seriously. Don’t waste time to send such a patient to a specialized center. (ALS-centrum). At this time, the mean time for patients to get their diagnosis 1,5 year after the start of the symptoms or complaints.
I want to thank all of the students for the attention and showed respect for this kind of (fatal) disease and hope to have contributed to a better understanding of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
