Tom Fudge: ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a fairly rare condition. The neurodegenerative disease afflicts several hundred thousand people worldwide. But if you're one who has it, the statistics don't mean much. ALS causes paralysis by killing the nerve cells that control movement. Most people who get ALS, die within five years. One of the victims of the disease was a man from Newton, Massachusetts, named Stephen Heywood. The story of his illness and his family's tenacious response to it is told in a new Frontline documentary called So Much. So Fast.
So Much So Fast airs Tuesday (tonight) on Frontline at 9:00 p.m. on KPBS television.
Guest
- Steven Ascher and Jeanne Jordan are Academy Award-nominated directors who have produced tonight's Frontline program about one family's attempt to cure Lou Gehrig's Disease.
