ASL, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, was the scientific name for a "degenerative disease." After suffering from this disease, there were hopes of early treatment, but once in the later stages, the probability of recovering from clinical treatment was almost zero. In Hawking's situation, what modern medicine could do was only control the patient's condition.
However, with 22nd-century technology, there was no difficulty in treating this condition.
In the apocalypse, medical technology was quite developed on the timeline. Before the war, almost 90% of the incurable diseases could be treated. ASL was one of the conditions no longer incurable.
