Environmental Factors
Overview
Researchers are exploring the intricate relationship between lifestyle factors and genetics in causing or contributing to ALS. Identifying the environmental links to ALS is challenging due to common exposures in the general population, making it difficult to determine individual susceptibility.
The cause of ALS remains unknown for most People living with ALS. Epidemiological studies can help shed light on potential risk factors to further evidence needed for future studies.
Numerous environmental factors, including Beta-methylamino-l-alanine (BMAA), smoking, toxins (metals, solvents, radiation, electromagnetic fields), warfare, exercise, pesticides, and viruses, are under scrutiny. Epidemiologic studies, like those conducted by Stanford University's ALS Consortium of Epidemiologic Studies (ACES), play a crucial role in understanding ALS patterns, incidence, and prevalence.
According to the National AL Registry (2018), the estimated prevalence rate of ALS in the United States is 9.1 persons per 1000,000, and the incidence rate (2016) is estimated at 1.6 persons per 100,000.
Investigative efforts aim to identify genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors associated with ALS.
Learn more about ALS and environmental factors:
Stanford University's ALS Consortium of Epidemiologic Studies (ACES)
Sources
Longinetti, E., & Fang, F. (2019). Epidemiology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: an update of recent literature. Current opinion in neurology, 32(5), 771–776. https://doi.org/10.1097/WCO.0000000000000730
Oskarsson, B., Horton, D. K., & Mitsumoto, H. (2015). Potential Environmental Factors in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Neurologic Clinics, 33(4), 877-888. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ncl.2015.07.009
Mehta, P., Raymond, J., Zhang, Y., Punjani, R., Han, M., Larson, T., Muravov, O., Lyles, R. H., & Horton, D. K. (2023). Prevalence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in the United States, 2018. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration, 24(7-8), 702-708. https://doi.org/10.1080/21678421.2023.2245858
Mehta, P., Raymond, J., Punjani, R., Larson, T., Han, M., Bove, F., & Horton, D. K. (2022). Incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in the United States, 2014–2016. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration, 23(5-6), 378-382. https://doi.org/10.1080/21678421.2021.2023190