The Generational Impact of ALS: The Importance of Advance Planning

Written by: Laura Taxel

Brandy Gleason’s mother, Nannette Livingston, passed away in 2019 at 56. The cause of death was ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The same disease took Brandy’s grandmother and great-grandfather. Often called Lou Gehrig’s Disease in memory of the famous New York Yankees baseball player whose career it ended in 1939, ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that starts with muscle weakness and leads to loss of all motor function and ultimately complete paralysis. It is always fatal.