TJ feels first symptoms of ALS
- "ALS is a death sentence, Chloe. You know that… And it's not going to be pretty. It'll start with muscle weakness and cramping. And then I'll have trouble walking, talking, feeding myself. And eventually, full paralysis will set in. But my mind will be unaffected. I'll be a prisoner trapped inside my own body. Like I said, you play the hand you're dealt."
- ―Lt. Tamara Johansen[src]
Lou Gehrig's Disease or ALS is a genetic disease that causes systemic failure of neural functions. A victim of this condition slowly loses control of his or her body and eventually dies. Its primary symptom are shivering tremors.
Archives in the Novus fallout bunker revealed that Tamara Johansen has this disease, as her alternate counterpart died of it. Yaozu claimed that the People of Novus found a cure for it, but this knowledge was lost after the destruction of Novus. The Destiny expedition started searching the Destiny database for cure, but have yet to find it.
Modern Tau'ri medicine has no cure for it. (SGU: "Epilogue")
Tamara Johansen's disease momentum was halted for a time when she was placed in the stasis pod between 2010 and 2013. In 2018, 5 years after she'd have woken up from stasis, she'd feel the first symptoms of the disease. (SGU: "Gauntlet", "Epilogue")