Hello and welcome back to Life’s Biggest Questions, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey.
Sadly, the great Stephen Hawking passed away on March 14, 2018, at the age of 76.
The death of such an inspiring and influential figure has set the world spinning, with many
being taken totally offguard.
However, this death was actually predicted decades earlier.
Following his diagnosis of ALS, Hawking was given just two years to live… and that was
55 years ago.
How did the great scientist overcome this diagnosis, and live decades longer than expected?
Let’s explore.
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channel.
Now get ready, it’s time to ask the question: How did Stephen Hawking Live so long with
ALS?
Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, at the age
of 21.
This motor neuron disease, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a debilitating disease
that can cause the brain to lose the ability to communicate with the muscles of the body,
with muscular control waning as time passes.
As muscles break down, one can lose the ability to walk, talk, eat, and even breathe.
As such, roughly 80 per cent of those with this non-contagious disease die within two
to five years of diagnosis.
However, 5 years just wasn’t enough for Hawking to do all of the important work he
had planned, and he graced us with his presence for many decades more.
With only 5% of ALS patients living past 20 years, Hawking's case was very rare.
However, given the 200,000 people around the world with the disease, there are bound to
be certain outliers, some of whom die earlier than the average, and some of whom survive
much longer.
Lucky for us, Hawking was in the latter group.
But was this pure chance, or did he have a hand in this longevity?
Unfortunately, it’s difficult to come to concrete conclusions as to how he lived this
long, because so few people with ALS manage it.
This extreme longevity is extremely rare, which causes problems in sample size.
Furthermore, ALS is such a widely varying disease that it’s difficult to come up with
hard and fast rules, since each case is different.
There are, however, certain factors that very much helped Hawking to live to such an old
age.
One fortunate occurrence that allowed him to live so long with the disease is that he
managed to avoid the major causes of death for ALS patients.
Most people suffering from ALS die from one of two causes.
For some, the motor neurons in charge of breathing become unable to do their job, and for others,
the muscles involved in swallowing become non-functional, leading to malnutrition and
dehydration.
Barring these complications, many ALS patients can live for many years.
Thankfully, Hawking was able to use a ventilator to avoid dying from respiratory problems,
and while his swallowing was eventually impaired, he was still able to consume food and water
with aid.
Another stroke of luck for Hawking was that he did not experience the dementia that has
been known to affect ALS patients.
It seems that the non-motor areas of his brain were largely unaffected by the disease.
This allowed him to continue his ever-important scientific work.
This in itself may have played a role in Hawking's extended life, since he’s known to speak
very highly of working.
One of the three pieces of life advice he had for his children was, quote, "Work gives
you meaning and purpose, and life is empty without it."
End quote.
It's possible that if Hawking lost his ability to do his work, he would not have lived quite
so long, as he might have lacked the motivation to do so.
Furthermore, it’s possible that the early onset of his disease actually worked in his
favour.
Most diagnoses of ALS are made after the age of 50, making Hawking an outlier right from
the get-go.
Some studies have found the survival of younger patients to be far better than older ones.
This is similar to findings on other diseases, like Parkinson's, where early onset tends
to relate to a slower progression.
So while it would have been crushing to receive the diagnosis at 21 years of age, it may have
actually led to a longer life than he would have had with a later onset.
Of course, Hawking and his doctors weren’t simply crossing their fingers and hoping for
the best; much work was put into assuring that Hawking had the best care available.
It certainly helped that his work had made him quite wealthy, allowing for the best supplements
and medical care.
Hawking reportedly supplemented his diet with daily tablets, zinc, cod liver oil, folic
acid, and a number of vitamins.
He also ate a very clean diet in general.
He received consistent physiotherapy, both passively in the chest, and actively in the
limbs and muscle groups.
These are all believed to have helped him to reach such an advanced age, but again,
little is certain.
And now we return to our question: How did Stephen Hawking Live so long with ALS?
Well, since the disease is so mysterious and variable, it’s hard to say for sure.
Hawking was certainly fortunate to have the disease progress rather slowly, and especially
that it affected his thinking very little.
The early onset may have helped, and his diet and exercise programs may have aided him as
well, but as of now we just don’t know how to use his case to help others suffering from
ALS.
Sadly, this disease is still veiled in a good deal of mystery, and currently is without
a cure.
If you wish to help in the fight, you can donate to a number of reputable charities,
such as the ALS Association or the ALS Society of Canada.
Every little bit helps.
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Until next time, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey with Life’s Biggest Questions, wishing you
the best of luck, on your quest for answers.