Theory of Everything - Neuro note

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The Theory of Everything is about the life of Stephen Hawking, a famous physicist who in the peak of his career was diagnosed with motor neuron disease, otherwise known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). I chose to watch this movie because I was interested in how the media portrayed ALS as well as the rest of the world back then. Overall, I thought the movie was good and showed how far research and technology has come in helping individuals with this condition.

Hawking was diagnosed with this condition in the 1960's. One thing I found interesting was in the movie the doctor and Stephen always referred to ALS as motor neuron disease and once as Lou Gehrig's disease but it was never referred to as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Also, the movie did a good job showing the different signs and symptoms of the condition. For example, it showed him having problems with walking, hand weakness, and being clumsy in his distal extremities. He had a major fall that led to the diagnosis of his condition. I found it interesting when the doctor told Stephen he had motor neuron disease he was very curt about it, told him he only had 2 years to live, and couldn't do anything for him. Although, right now there is no cure for ALS there are plenty of treatment options and medications to help curb the progression and I wish he would've gone over it with him.

It was cool to see the progression of wheelchairs Hawking received and how the eye gaze technology worked for him. Of course, the movie didn't show everything in his life so I looked up some details about his life and ALS. It didn't show his around the clock care (the movie did mention it) but it did a good job showing how he didn't let ALS hold him back from his career and what meant the most to him. This is a good movie to watch (after you've learned about ALS) to see the symptoms in real life but to also be reminded how there is an individual over the disease and they are just like anyone else.

Reference:

 Marsh, J. (Director), Bevan, T., Fellner, E., Bruce, L., & McCarten, A. (Producers), & McCarten, A. (Writer). (n.d.). The theory of everything[Video file].


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