Former NFL star Chris Johnson says he's been diagnosed with ALS

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Former NFL prima Chris Johnson announced that he's been diagnosed with ALS, besides known arsenic Lou Gehrig's disease.

Johnson, present 40, said helium received the diagnosis past year. He shared the quality successful a "Good Morning America" interrogation with Michael Strahan, a retired NFL subordinate himself and co-anchor of the speech show. The interrogation aired Monday.

"If sharing my communicative helps adjacent 1 idiosyncratic get diagnosed sooner, inspires much research, oregon gives different household hope, it's worthy it," said Johnson.

He told Strahan that doctors judge helium has "sporadic" ALS, due to the fact that there's nary past of ALS successful his family. The immense bulk of cases — astir 90% — are considered sporadic, meaning determination isn't an inherited oregon familial link, according to the National Institutes of Health.

ALS, oregon Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, is simply a progressive neurodegenerative illness that impacts nervus cells successful the encephalon and spinal cord, severing the transportation betwixt the encephalon and muscles. People with the unwellness yet suffer their quality to walk, speak, devour and breathe, according to the ALS Association. Doctors are processing caller treatments that assistance easiness symptoms oregon dilatory down their progression, but they person not recovered a mode to halt oregon cure it.

For Johnson, the illness progressed quickly. On "Good Morning America," helium utilized a instrumentality to talk for him, which helium maneuvered with conscionable oculus movements that the instrumentality picked up done sensors.

"Just implicit a twelvemonth ago, I was picking up my 7-year-old girl truthful she could marque a privation for her day cake," said Johnson, who said the illness "can beryllium truthful shocking," for a fig of antithetic reasons.

He appeared connected "Good Morning America" beside his wife, Brittany Johnson, with whom helium shares 4 children.

"All I could deliberation astir was our kids and however young they are," she said, recalling her effect erstwhile her hubby was archetypal diagnosed. "The beingness that we antecedently had is present a happening of the past, but we're inactive hopeful."

Johnson said helium initially began to announcement weakness successful his close hand. Symptoms started with "little things," helium told Strahan, "like my grip didn't consciousness close and I wasn't arsenic beardown arsenic I've ever been."

Over a 10-year NFL career, Johnson rushed for 9,651 yards, scoring 55 touchdowns connected the crushed for the Tennessee Titans, New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals. He is 1 of lone 9 moving backs to unreserved for implicit 2,000 yards successful a season, mounting that people for the Titans successful 2009, erstwhile helium was named Offensive Player of the Year. A first-round draught prime retired of East Carolina, Johnson was a Pro Bowl enactment successful each of his archetypal 3 years successful the NFL.

He said helium hopes his "Good Morning America" interrogation helps debunk immoderate assumptions radical whitethorn person astir ALS and those who unrecorded with it.

"First, I privation radical to cognize that I'm inactive me. ALS has changed what my assemblage tin do, but it hasn't changed who I am," said Johnson, adding: "Your caput stays sharp. People sometimes look astatine the carnal disablement and presume you're not inactive the aforesaid idiosyncratic inside. I inactive deliberation the same, I inactive dream, I inactive emotion my family. My assemblage conscionable doesn't cooperate."

Johnson is among a fistful of celebrities who became advocates for ALS probe pursuing their diagnoses, including the precocious actor Eric Dane. Gehrig, the New York Yankees player for whom the illness was informally named, brought planetary consciousness to ALS aft his diagnosis successful the 1930s.

Sara Moniuszko and Stephen Smith contributed to this report.

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