ALS is a rare pathology; the causes are unknown and there is no cure. This disease completely paralyzes the body, sparing only the eyes used to communicate and the brain which maintains its functions 100%. The majority of ALS cases in Italy become dramatic not only for the patients afflicted but also for the family who has to guarantee 24-hour a day medical assistance: in Italy the State does little or nothing to help them. Thanks to their tenacity, ALS sufferers have become the emblem and icon of many other sufferers of rare diseases that in Italy are considered to be too few to be heard and too expensive to help.