When did Gehrig first develop MND?

02 December 2006

When did baseball legend Lou Gehrig first develop symptoms of Motor Neurone Disease – the condition that took his life, and to which he gave his name?

That’s the question that US scientists set out to answer, by examining photographs of the New York Yankee and footage from Rawhide, the 1938 film in which he starred.

Gehrig died in 1941, two years after he was diagnosed with ALS, the most common form of MND. His fame in the US meant that MND is now known there as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”. The rapid decline in his performance once his symptoms emerged saw him withdraw from the sport in May 1939, and he was diagnosed soon after.

At today’s closing session of the 17th International Symposium on ALS/MND in Yokohama, Dr Paul Gordon of Columbia University in New York presented the findings of a study in Gehrig’s disease progression.

The objective had been to determine whether Gehrig had signs of ALS in Rawhide, and to assess his physical function in the film footage and photographs taken from 1937 to 1939, using modern assessment techniques.

The research showed that Gehrig did not display visible signs of weakness in Rawhide. His ALSFRS score – a measure of disease progression applied to MND patients – was normal and there was no visible muscle wastage or weakness.

During the film, Gehrig lifts an adult man overhead, throws billiard balls with force and precision, stands from a seated position while clapping his hands and leaps over a chair.

The photographs indicated that physical signs of Gehrig’s disease only showed themselves after May 1938, a year before he stopped playing.

Dr Gordon said that as well as giving his name to the disease, Gehrig would also be remembered through the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig MDA/ALS Center at Columbia University, set up by his widow.

"Gehrig's name and his legacy still live," he said. "I hope that we will do well by his legacy."

Sarah Fitzgerald, Head of PR and Media
+44 (0)1604 611840
sarah.fitzgerald@mndassociation.org

The 17th International Symposium on ALS/MND is taking place in Yokohama, Japan, between Thursday, 30 November and Saturday, 2 December. The event is organised by the UK-based Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association and hosted this year by the Japanese ALS Association (JALSA).