Smoking may increase the risk of the fatal muscle-wasting disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Smoking may increase the risk of the fatal muscle-wasting disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
ALS, a form of motor neuron disease, is a progressive, fatal, neurodegenerative disease caused by the degeneration of motor neurons, the nerve cells in the central nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement. There is no cure for the disease and treatments are very limited. About 90 percent of ALS cases are sporadic and of unknown, possibly environmental, origin.
To examine the relation between smoking and ALS, American researchers analysed data from five long-term studies that involved a total of more than 1.1 million people, including 832 with ALS. Follow-up in the studies ranged from seven to 28 years.
The rates of ALS in the five studies combined increased with age, and were higher in men than women for all age groups. Compared to non-smokers, the risk of developing ALS was 42 percent higher in current smokers and 44 percent higher in former smokers. The risk of developing ALS increased by 10 percent for each additional 10 cigarettes smoked per day and by nine percent for each 10 years of smoking. The younger a person was when they started smoking, the greater their risk of developing ALS.
Several possible mechanisms by which cigarette smoking might influence the risk of ALS have been suggested, including direct neuronal damage from nitric oxide or other components of cigarette smoke [such as residues of pesticides used in tobacco cultivation] or from oxidative stress. The authors conclude that better understanding of the relation between smoking and ALS may further the discovery of other risk factors and help elucidate the nature of the disease.
ALS, a form of motor neuron disease, is a progressive, fatal, neurodegenerative disease caused by the degeneration of motor neurons, the nerve cells in the central nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement. There is no cure for the disease and treatments are very limited. About 90 percent of ALS cases are sporadic and of unknown, possibly environmental, origin.
To examine the relation between smoking and ALS, American researchers analysed data from five long-term studies that involved a total of more than 1.1 million people, including 832 with ALS. Follow-up in the studies ranged from seven to 28 years.
The rates of ALS in the five studies combined increased with age, and were higher in men than women for all age groups. Compared to non-smokers, the risk of developing ALS was 42 percent higher in current smokers and 44 percent higher in former smokers. The risk of developing ALS increased by 10 percent for each additional 10 cigarettes smoked per day and by nine percent for each 10 years of smoking. The younger a person was when they started smoking, the greater their risk of developing ALS.
Several possible mechanisms by which cigarette smoking might influence the risk of ALS have been suggested, including direct neuronal damage from nitric oxide or other components of cigarette smoke [such as residues of pesticides used in tobacco cultivation] or from oxidative stress. The authors conclude that better understanding of the relation between smoking and ALS may further the discovery of other risk factors and help elucidate the nature of the disease.
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