decreased rate of recruitment in EMG

Posted By cindy on May 02, 1998 at 23:03:24:







Hi!
I have been battling progressive neuro stuff for three years.  I have what I call attacks, with each of these attacks, I seem to loose a little of something.  This last one hit the lungs and my walking is much slower.
My latest EMG reads "presence of a few chronic denervation changes in one muscle is not diagnostic of radiculopathy but does suggest the possibility of a very mild chronic C-7 radiculopathy.  The decreased rate of recruitment can be seen in patients who have upper motor neuron disease as well as who give decreased effort although this was not observed during the test.  There is no evidence of any active radiculopathy, neuropathy or myopathy on this study.  What does this mean?
My question is, can there be other upper motor neuron diseases other than ALS?
Yes I have all the signs of UMN damage, just recently lost reflex in my foot even though I remain hyper-reflective.  I also developed ++ jaw jerk.
What is the criteria for a diagnosis of possible ALS?  Will they wait for other signs, such as the fasculations to appear ( I use to have them but they seem to have stopped)  Are there a certain number of body parts that need to be involved?
Thanks!