Article (Transfusion -- March 8, 2012): The United States Trypanosoma cruzi Infection Study: Evidence for Vector-borne Transmission of the Parasite That Causes Chagas Disease Among United States Blood Donors.
The ALS Association says the average lifespan of someone diagnosed with the condition is between two and five years. More than 50 percent make it past year three. Twenty percent make it past year five. From there, the number plummets. Less than 5 percent make it past two decades.
Who gets it: ALS can strike anyone between the ages of 40 and 70. Itâs 20 percent more common in men than in women, and, though typically not genetic, can be hereditary in about 10 percent of cases.