[Jean-Martin Charcot, discovery and nomenclature of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis].

In the 19th century, neurologists discovered a series of diseases characterized by limb weakness and muscle atrophy, but it was not certain whether they were variants of the same disease or completely different diseases. In 1869, Jean-Martin Charcot first diagnosed the disease, and began to use the term "amyotrophic lateral sclerosis" in 1874. The disease is also known as "Lou Gehrig's disease" in the United States, "Charcot's disease" in France, and "Motor Neuron Disease (MND)" in UK. In China, it is commonly known as "Jian-Dong Ren disease" .