The atrophy is still there. You can see it in the small muscles of Wang Zhiyuan’s hands—the permanent signature of a disease that was supposed to kill him within five years. His prognosis was given in 1983. He is still alive today, and although the disease has left its mark, it couldn’t finish the job.
Wang and I attended the same medical school in China, although he was many years ahead of me. At the peak of his career, he was diagnosed with ALS—amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. ALS destroys the motor neurons that control your muscles. There is no cure, and most patients die within three to five years.
