By Attorney Kristal Knox: Today I would like to talk about paternity issues. These are situations where a man is stuck paying child support for a child that isnât even his. Men in that position could possibly pay support for a child up until the child is 18 or 19 years old.
According to the ALS CARE Database, 60% of the people with ALS in the Database are men and 93% of patients in the Database are Caucasian. Most people who develop ALS are between the ages of 40 and 70, with an average age of 55 at the time of diagnosis. However, cases of the disease do occur in persons in their twenties and thirties. Generally though, ALS occurs in greater percentages as men and women grow older.
Because records on ALS have not been kept throughout the country, it is hard to estimate the number of ALS cases in the United States. ALS is slightly more common in men than women. ALS is age related; most people find out they have it when they are between 55 and 75 years of age, and live from 2 to 5 years after symptoms develop. How long a person lives with ALS seems to be related to age; people who are younger when the illness starts live slightly longer. To read the latest prevalence of ALS for Oct. 2010 â December 11, 2011, click here. About 5â10% of ALS cases occur within families.