irismarie
Very helpful member
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2009
- Messages
- 1,386
- Reason
- PALS
- Diagnosis
- 05/2010
- Country
- FR
- State
- tarn et garonne
- City
- valeilles
after looking at Barry's wonderful map, I wondered how much research ha been done in finding possible geographical or demographic causes so I wrote to the research dept of the MND assoc. Just look at this feeble reply (already posted to another thread on Barry's maps)
I find it feeble to say the least? If this is the best they can do I do not hold out much hope for us......WE could do better
"Researchers believe that the numbers of people developing MND/ALS and living with the disease are the same across the world. They generally quote this as the ‘incidence’ and ‘prevalence’. The incidence describes the number of new cases each year in the population (generally quoted as 2 people likely to develop MND per 100,000 population). The prevalence is the number of cases of MND at one time, this is generally quoted as 5 people in every 100,000.
The demographics of the population is an important consideration in these figures, they assume a mixture of ages. If you were to look at a generally older population then the numbers would be different, as people are more likely to develop MND/ALS as they get older. I am attaching a copy of the Association’s information sheet on statistics for your information.
(Iris butts in In a feeble statistc chart of UK they sent it stated 2 in every 100,000, It was useless)
I had not heard that there were higher levels of people with MND in Mexico, there is very little information on this in the published scientific literature. The one article I found suggested that the numbers in Mexico were likely to be the same as in the rest of the world.
Researchers are very interested in the south Pacific island of Guam. Some residents of the island develop an ALS/Parkinson’s Dementia like complex. As the name suggests the condition includes symptoms of MND, dementia and Parkinson’s Disease. In the 1960s unexpectedly high numbers of people with MND and people with ALS-PDC were found. Although there are now average numbers of inhabitants with MND, the numbers of people with ALS-PDC remains high. There has been a great deal of research to understand why they are so susceptible. Influencing factors include their unusual diet and a particular type of bacteria in their water supply. It still isn’t known for sure and research is ongoing.
I hope that this answers your queries
I find it feeble to say the least? If this is the best they can do I do not hold out much hope for us......WE could do better
"Researchers believe that the numbers of people developing MND/ALS and living with the disease are the same across the world. They generally quote this as the ‘incidence’ and ‘prevalence’. The incidence describes the number of new cases each year in the population (generally quoted as 2 people likely to develop MND per 100,000 population). The prevalence is the number of cases of MND at one time, this is generally quoted as 5 people in every 100,000.
The demographics of the population is an important consideration in these figures, they assume a mixture of ages. If you were to look at a generally older population then the numbers would be different, as people are more likely to develop MND/ALS as they get older. I am attaching a copy of the Association’s information sheet on statistics for your information.
(Iris butts in In a feeble statistc chart of UK they sent it stated 2 in every 100,000, It was useless)
I had not heard that there were higher levels of people with MND in Mexico, there is very little information on this in the published scientific literature. The one article I found suggested that the numbers in Mexico were likely to be the same as in the rest of the world.
Researchers are very interested in the south Pacific island of Guam. Some residents of the island develop an ALS/Parkinson’s Dementia like complex. As the name suggests the condition includes symptoms of MND, dementia and Parkinson’s Disease. In the 1960s unexpectedly high numbers of people with MND and people with ALS-PDC were found. Although there are now average numbers of inhabitants with MND, the numbers of people with ALS-PDC remains high. There has been a great deal of research to understand why they are so susceptible. Influencing factors include their unusual diet and a particular type of bacteria in their water supply. It still isn’t known for sure and research is ongoing.
I hope that this answers your queries
