And the numbers actually mean risk -- the higher the blood pressure, the greater the risk -- and the interesting thing is the risk begins to occur even at relatively normal blood pressure readings. So the higher you go, the worse off you're going to be, from a blood pressure point of view.
Hawking went on to Cambridge to research cosmology, the study of the universe as a whole. In early 1963, just shy of his 21st birthday, Hawking was diagnosed with motor neuron disease, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He was not expected to live more than two years. Completing his doctorate did not appear likely.
Scientists also don't know for certain what causes ALS (aka Lou Gehrig's disease) in general and are studying genetic and environmental links, the CDC notes. But although the underlying reasons for Hawking's long-term survival are unclear, researchers' thoughts on it aren't. He is exceptional, neurology professor Nigel Leigh told the British Medical Journal in 2002. I am not aware of anyone else who has survived with [ALS] as long.. What also makes Hawking's case unusual is that he was informed of his illness so young: The average age for diagnosis is 55, the Post notes, though Hawking's early onset may have helped him in the long run.