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.
Although patients with progressive muscular atrophy (PMA) tended to live longer than those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), shorter survival in PMA is associated with the same risk factors that predict poor survival in ALS.