Many people would like to know how to prevent ALS, especially people who have seen multiple members of their families experience the health problem, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s disease or motor neuron disease. Fortunately ALS is preventable, and that’s true, by the way, regardless of whether one carries certain gene mutations that are said to be somehow involved in the creation of ALS.
The basis of ALS prevention is the following. Contrary to the commonly held idea that ALS occurs randomly, ALS is not random at all. ALS occurs when factors and patterns in a person’s life come together in such a way as to create the problem. What this means is that if factors and patterns in a person’s life do not come together in an ALS creating way, the person will not experience ALS.
So to prevent ALS, what you have to do is make sure that you don’t live in an ALS creating way. Instead, you use wellness creating approaches to handling things and live in a wellness creating way.
Here are some of the basics of doing that.
The Basics of Preventing ALS
A key idea underlying ALS prevention is that what is called ALS is really just poor nerve health characterized by progressive degeneration of the nervous system. It’s only natural that one’s nervous system would begin to break down if it’s not healthy. So, much of what you are considering in preventing ALS is how choices you make would affect your health, especially the health of your nerves.
Another thing to realize is that, when genes are involved in the creation of health problems, there are reasons why the genes are doing what they are doing. Genes can express or not express, basically be turned on or off. So ALS prevention involves living in healthy ways to create a health creating gene expression situation.
Finally, key to preventing ALS is understanding that the development and progression of what’s called ALS involves trigger-response cycles. In other words, when someone is experiencing ALS, what’s going on is that something has triggered a response, and the response is a type of response that results in ALS type nerve health issues. So, in general, preventing ALS involves (1) reducing triggers and (2) optimizing responses.
Preventing ALS by Reducing Stress
For instance, one way we can reduce triggers and optimize responses is by seeking to reduce stress. Stress is a factor that commonly contributes to the creation of ALS, and it’s easy to understand that being stressed out all the time is not going to be good for the health of one’s nerves. So, if you want to stay healthy, one thing you can do is to seek to reduce stress.
Part of reducing stress involves realizing that stress has internal as well as external aspects. For instance, you could be relaxing at home and still be stressed by worries, fears, or other internal issues. So, much of reducing stress involves responding internally to issues in ways that don’t stress you out.
The stress underlying the creation of ALS can develop partly as a result of people’s ways of relating and handling their emotions. For instance, by repressing themselves, internalizing issues or acting like so called heroes all the time, people set themselves up for bad health. By consciously or unconsciously choosing to use these approaches, one creates stress and system imbalances that end up wrecking one’s nervous system. This partly explains why seemingly healthy people suddenly and seemingly randomly experience the neuro degeneration called ALS. They repress and repress and put on a brave face until things get to a tipping point and their systems break down.
So the answer here is to prevent ALS by relating in positive, assertive ways. Rather than repressing, internalizing and acting as if everything is OK all the time, which would be an ALS creating approach, express yourself, deal with issues as they come up and work things out. That would be a wellness creating approach.
In general, the strategies one uses in life underlie the creation of what one experiences. One can use either wellness creating strategies or strategies that, while they may seem to solve things, don’t really.
Disconnection and Escape Strategies and ALS
With that in mind, possibly the most important or signature pattern in the creation of ALS is the use of disconnection and escape strategies. These strategies involve doing things like refusing to communicate and avoiding people or issues rather than dealing with them. While one may feel that one is relieving stress by disconnecting or by avoiding dealing with things, often one is just putting off the inevitable or allowing problems to get even worse.
In addition to disconnection and avoidance not being effective life strategies, there is another aspect of their involvement in the creation of ALS that make them key ALS creation strategies. Here’s how it works. ALS involves communication breakdown at the cellular level. Just as people who experience ALS tend to use strategies that create communication breakdown, their neurons avoid and disconnect too, an example of something I call micro matches macro, meaning that people’s cells tend to do as the people do. So if you want your neurons to be healthy, communicate, and work well with each other and with other cells, you need to harness the power of micro matches macro by doing those types of things yourself. For instance, if you have an issue with someone, rather than avoiding the issue or the person, communicate, work things out, and create wellness.
In general the idea of working things out and resolving conflict is key in attaining and maintaining wellness. Whether issues are internal or external, you will not attain or maintain wellness by doing non healing things like punishing, ignoring, disconnecting, lying, leaving or avenging. You will only attain and maintain wellness by resolving.
Another thing that often figures into the creation of ALS is workaholism. It’s one thing to work hard at things. It’s another to work because work is your drug, or worse, because work is a way to escape issues in your life. If you have issues at home, don’t run to work, have three cups of coffee and stay at the office until late. Go home and work things out. Your life and your health will be way better for it.
Preventing ALS and Staying Healthy by Taking Care of Your Body Holistically
Related to this is heavy caffeine use. People who experience ALS often were not sleeping, were running themselves to death, and were using caffeine to help them do it. One guy told me about ALS starting after a period of time during which he was drinking sixty ounces of Mountain Dew a day. Others were drinking massive amounts of cola. Put it this way, if you are too tired to work or drive or whatever, rather than drink an energy drink or having another cup of coffee, consider that what you are feeling means your body needs some healing or recharging, not to be pushed past the breaking point.
In a similar way, medication use is also connected to the creation of ALS. Let’s say you have a health issue such as high blood pressure or chronic pain. The fact that you have such a health issue tends to indicate that something is going on that is not optimal. Something is wrong in your life.
If you take a pill to cope with the health issue, you may get some short term relief. At the same time, something is still wrong in your life and has just been masked by the medication. For instance, if you are experiencing high blood pressure because you are stressed out all the time or are eating junk food constantly, taking blood pressure medication doesn’t really solve the problem. The stress or junk food, or whatever other factor is causing health issues, is still having effects. Sure, your blood pressure is “under control,” but your situation has not truly become healthier.
So, when we take medication, we may experience symptom relief , but we don’t really solve the underlying issues, and wellness has not been attained. Thus, what can happen is that the underlying issues will crop up in another way now, possibly as the type of poor nerve health known as ALS.
So, if you have health problems, while it may make sense to use medication to treat them in the short term, in the long term, look to really solve them holistically by addressing root causes and improving the way you live. That would be the wellness creating approach.
Preventing ALS and Staying Healthy by Watching What You Eat
What you eat can also make a huge difference, and there are two ways in which you can improve your health by improving your diet. One way is by reducing intake of things that hurt you. The other way is by taking in things that support health.
To reduce intake of things that will hurt you, you have to realize that not everything that is legal or sold in a food store is good for you. In fact, many things that people commonly eat are quite damaging to your body.
If you eat highly processed food, meat full of hormones, chicken that was raised in torturous conditions, produce full of pesticides, or products with questionable ingredients such as nitrites or artificial flavors and colors, these foods will damage your nerves and other parts of your body. If you drink large quantities of soda or other things which are full of chemicals that can be hard on your system, you won’t be as healthy as you would be if you didn’t consume these things.
All of these foods contain substances that can have effects that result in disease. The substances can throw of the balance of your system or make it difficult for your system to function properly. The substances can directly cause damage to your nerves or other parts of your body. Finally, the substances can serve as triggers in trigger-response cycles that manifest as progressive breakdown of your nervous system or other parts of your body. Of course, we don’t want any of these things going on in our bodies. So, we have to be careful about what we put into our bodies.
On the other hand, we can foster health by eating foods that do not contain these damaging substances and that do contain things that support health. Of course, eating foods that contain plenty of basic nutrients such as minerals, key fats, and vitamins is going to help our nerves to remain stable and healthy. Other foods go beyond containing key nutrients to containing substances such as antioxidants or anti-inflammatory substances that support health by reducing damage.
So, to prevent ALS, set yourself up for health by working in both directions: reducing intake of damaging foods and being sure to eat foods that support health. Drink water or something healthy, and eat high quality food, such as organically grown fruit.
Our Health Is in Our Hands.
Beyond these things, there is much more you can do to prevent ALS. Other things that contribute to the creation of ALS include depression, anger and negative ways of responding, fear, pride, constant freaking out, ongoing issues related to childhood trauma, and poor self image. You can find some more ALS creation factors and patterns on the “ALS Creation” page at http://www.creatingparadise.net/als_creation.html. To prevent ALS, rather than choosing these ALS creating ways, choose wellness creating ways of handling life.
Our health is in our hands. The better job we do, the healthier we are. By choosing to live in a wellness creating way, we can create a well world where ALS is just a memory.
Healing Chronicles 
bill said,
2011/11/10 at 1:50 PM
thank for the helpful info
Mark Kully said,
2011/11/15 at 9:18 PM
This the only way to heal , Come on people get real and do the work and take the best care you can possible . Thanks Marty
Steph said,
2012/03/06 at 9:53 PM
What is this?
Marty Murray said,
2012/03/07 at 11:52 AM
It’s good als prevention information and facts that many people are not aware of partly because a system is in place that tends to keep it hidden. That’s what it is.
Does Mountain Dew cause als? Well, in a way the answer is yes. « Healing Chronicles said,
2012/11/26 at 11:45 PM
[…] Mountain Dew cause ALS?” At first I thought it was because I had mentioned Mountain Dew in a post on preventing als. Now I am wondering if others are seeing the Mountain Dew, als connection. So here’s what I […]
Marty Murray said,
2013/03/23 at 11:51 AM
I recently found this interesting post discussing some studies on als risk factors and the lack of awareness of and promotion of als prevention strategies.
http://www.alsforums.com/forum/general-discussion-about-als-mnd/18552-unexplained-silence-regarding-possible-als-risk-factors-prevention.html
Patricia Tamowski said,
2014/08/19 at 5:16 PM
If you want to prevent ALS, see what people are doing to heal ALS. Here is a great site with people that are doing positive things to heal–give a donation if you can–it’s a great cause: http://HealingALS.org
ralph said,
2014/12/08 at 3:34 PM
I am a believer that what we eat can be a huge stressor. You don’t want to be running on adrenaline. However, within these two areas there must be a chemical mechanism. Malnutrition, toxins, oxidation…To know that is also helpful to clean up ones life “junk” even better. Much disease are lifestyle habits, I agree.
Hope said,
2014/12/31 at 9:26 AM
I am totally relate to this post. I am not yet diagnosed, but experience some Als-like symptoms. And most of the risk factors described in this post can be found in exagerrated forms in my life. And also I want to add that I am young 26 male guy, not smoking, not drinking, but stress and sort of escapism is real issue with me.
Marty Murray said,
2014/12/31 at 9:41 AM
Just remember, there is not really any such thing as als. What is called als is really just what happens to nerves when one thinks and lives in certain ways. So what are called als symptoms are really symptoms of things like of lack of sleep or self hatred or the use of escape and disconnection approaches.
So have at it and get yourself healthier.
Bethany j said,
2015/03/10 at 11:20 AM
I was diagnosed on feb. 20, 2015. My functional medicine doctor won’t use the term als. He believes it’s just a lot of different symptoms that are put under the name. He or should I say we believe that the symptoms can be treated. I had amalgam fillings removed, stopped eating meat and dairy. I am only eating organic vegetables and fruits and all food and products I use are natural. I’m awaiting numerous test results to see what toxins are in my body. As my doctor has me say, “I am on the road to good health”
Marty Murray said,
2015/03/10 at 12:15 PM
Beautiful. Sounds as if you indeed are on the road to good health, Bethany. Changing emotional and mental patterns can help too, by the way.
Patricia Tamowski said,
2015/03/10 at 7:31 PM
Bethany you are definitely going the right direction, working with a functional MD, changing diet, removing amalgams and other toxins from your body. Mental and emotional healing is important too. You are absolutely on the road to good health. Check out http://HealingALS.org and see others diagnosed with ALS who are healing or have healed, including some who can lend additional support in your healing journey.
newrubio said,
2017/02/01 at 11:03 AM
Hi! How are you doing now since implementing these changes? It’s been awhile and I’m curious what has changed since please. (My mom was diagnosed with ALS, thus the curiosity). Thanks in advance!
beth said,
2015/04/23 at 6:56 PM
From what I understand, people as young as teens have been diagnosed. Would you say in those cases it would be due to stress and unhealthy eating? Just curious.
Marty Murray said,
2015/04/23 at 7:25 PM
Where there is disease, there’s always something underlying it.
When neurodegeneration occurs, it seems that some kind of emotional stress is always part of the picture. Is diet part of the picture in those cases? Probably.
At the same time, with neurodegeneration what is typically going on is some type of trigger response cycle. So something in a person’s diet could be a trigger, vaccines could be triggering things, as could dental work, something having to do with the construction of the house a person is living in, tooth care products, deodorant, air fresheners, or anything else that could somehow irritate the person’s system.
For example a couple of girls experienced something along the lines of als soon after receiving vaccines for HPV.
Maybe if those girls had had less stress in their lives, they would not have experienced such significant health issues after receiving the vaccine.
What is called als is a category of cascading neurodegeneration. Something having to do with diet, psychology and lifestyle is always causing that cascade to occur and continue. While there are commonalities, each case is somehow unique.
Overall, while maybe there are somehow some common differences between how neurodegeneration is usually caused in younger people, IUD’s and relationships with parents come to mind, and how it is usually caused in older people, blood pressure medication comes to mind, really disease is disease and health is health, and paths to disease creation tend to be pretty much the same for people of all ages.
beth said,
2015/04/23 at 9:29 PM
I was just reading today about a woman who lost several family members of different ages to ALS, and recently she lost her 51 year old son to it as well . I would be scared to death I would be next. I guess in this case it would be genetic. Ironic you mentioned the HPV vacc. My child just had the 2nd dosage today.
beth said,
2015/04/23 at 9:33 PM
I also wanted to mention that people in the military seem to be diagnosed at a staggering rate. Its been said its related to the Gulf War and also vaccines they are forced to get. That worries me b/c my husband was in the Gulf War and has had so many vaccines every time he goes overseas (anthrax is the one that worries me the most).
Marty Murray said,
2015/04/23 at 10:08 PM
Regarding als’s running in families being “genetic”, that’s not really right. Genes turn on and off. People in those families are not born with their nerves degenerating. I am currently working with someone who is the thirty-first person in her family diagnosed with als. She was told it’s “genetic.” Well, check this out. She used an IUD, had toxic dental work, used toxic plumbing, drank heavily, trained for marathons on little sleep, and has severe emotional issues, among other things. Are her health problems really “genetic”? I think not.
As far as your husband goes, as important as military experiences and vaccines is how he lives in general, especially how how he reacts to things emotionally, his core beliefs, what he eats and how he treats himself. Just getting enough sleep can make a huge difference. Those vaccines don’t sound good though, I have to admit. At the same time maybe what worries me the most is seeing people around me react to things with bitter anger or hate. That seems to pretty much guarantee that they will get sick somehow, and repressing those things is not the answer either.
Fran said,
2017/06/23 at 11:04 PM
This article was very informative; it changed the way I will take care of my body and my family !
Sincerely Thanks for posting it !
Marty Murray said,
2017/06/24 at 2:31 PM
Awesome to hear.
stan miller said,
2019/08/05 at 2:13 AM
show me 1000 people you have helped with als or cured from the disease Funny how the people that know the least about something have answers. have you helped anyone reverse their symptoms for an extended period of time I have had some symtoms reversed for 4 years now but am the weakest I have Ever been. thousands of people are trying hundreds of things but nothing so far has made an appreciatable difference. Show successes and results. why do tiny babies get cancer I suppose toxic enviorment and all the bad food they ate when those around them live.
Marty Murray said,
2019/08/05 at 6:37 AM
Hi Stan.
I have helped a few people diagnosed with ALS improve their health significantly.
Most people I have talked with have refused to work with me even if I offered to work with them for free. There’s so much misinformation out there, and so people are very skeptical of and even hostile toward the idea that they can heal themselves.
To see some people who have been diagnosed with ALS and healed, check out http://healingals.org/.
It takes a lot of work and know how for a person diagnosed with ALS to heal, and meanwhile, people around that person are telling that person that what they are doing won’t work. Partly as a result of the foregoing, even people who have started to see great results, such as walking after having been in a wheelchair for years or talking after not having spoken for months, have quit working with me. So challenging …
I’m pretty sure that a significant percentage of people diagnosed with ALS would heal pretty readily if they had support and effective coaching. Instead peopled seeking to heal are discouraged and told to get their affairs in order.
I would be happy to show you some stuff that you probably haven’t tried, and you could learn a lot from the folks at http://healingals.org/. Feel free to contact me directly at 914-316-1288 or m.w.murray at hotmail. Also, I explained ALS and how to solve it at https://alsexplainedandsolved.wordpress.com/.
You can heal yourself. You just have to use effective approaches.
Sue said,
2021/07/27 at 10:19 AM
Yes- my son was diagnosed at 8 years old. He is a light and everyone loves him- he did nothing wrong
!! You r a sicko blaming innocent people for their illness. The environment and the psychos that run the world are at fault. U sound like one of those A-hole docs from 20 years ago that blamed the patient for their autoimmune disease whilst they were the guilty party … prescribing toxic “medicines” to patients that trusted them. Where the hell is Hippocrates when u need him? If you lived in his time you’d be one of the people in his town that believed people w/ encephalitis were demon possessed (he did autopsies and proved they were really ill). Oh yeah – look up Jason Becker – he is an inspiration- you are NOT
Marty Murray said,
2021/07/27 at 10:28 AM
Hi Sue.
I think you and I are basically in agreement that ALS is preventable. For instance, I agree with you that environmental factors help to cause ALS.
I think one thing that could help your son is your changing your ways. By making your ways more positive and less negative, you could help you son to heal.
Micheal Brookes said,
2020/07/27 at 8:31 PM
I have ALS. I can see my own life having been played out in precisely the way you describe, Marty. In fact, you could have been relating my life story.
Your integrity shines through in all your responses to the negative and totally unwarranted critical posts. How your advice could be construed as being in any way harmful, hurtful, insensitive, ignorant, etc., is beyond comprehension. I am shocked and sad at the rude, ignorant, indignant, and uneducated responses from some posters.
I want you to know that I appreciate your informed and helpful opinions and your dedication. I am certain that many, many others feel the same way but haven’t the ability, time, or inclination to show their appreciation.