wonder if all ALS is not genetic

[nebrhahe53]

Maybe the 90% of us that have sporadic ALS are the ones who developed a genetic mutation and so really have FALS.

 

[Atsugi]

Good question, Neil.

From the National Institutes of Health: " Only a small percentage of cases have a known genetic cause."
Some interesting reading on the genes is at Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - Genetics Home Reference

--Mike

 

[Nikki J]

If it were true that all SALS resulted from a de novo mutation to a FALS gene like Mike's wife and Hollister had to c9 then there would be much more FALS from previous generations and there would be a pattern of ALS in successive generation after almost all SALS cases that does not exist. Do many SALS cases have a more subtle genetic susceptibility that, given the right ( or wrong) conditions predisposes to ALS? That is the thinking of a lot of scientists as mentioned in Mike's link

 

[patrick123]

I think my brain just exploded.
Patrick

 

[azgirl]

Do many SALS cases have a more subtle genetic susceptibility that, given the right ( or wrong) conditions predisposes to ALS? That is the thinking of a lot of scientists as mentioned in Mike's link

This is what my Dr believes.

 

[Mike in Maine]

I agree with Patrick

Mike

 

[hjlindley]

New genes are being discovered all the time. I'm sure many others, could they afford the testing, would've found a gene. I have family health records back 400 years on my father's side and 200 years on my mother's side, so that's how we know I am de nova. Somebody has to be. I am not even sure that all ALS is the same disease. Medicine is learning things every day.

 

[Nikki J]

I am sorry guys. It was my post that was confusing right?

What I was trying to say

There is FALS. People like me a parent had it aunts uncles grandparents siblings cousins... Caused by a gene defect that if you inherit it you almost certainly get ALS and you have a 50 percent chance of each child getting it too.

Then there are people like Mike's wife and Hollister. No relatives before them but they had a gene mutation appear in them. They got ALS and their kids have a 50 per cent chance as mine do of inheriting the gene.
Most people with ALS are neither of these so Neil's question about all SALS being FALS is not so. If everybody with ALS had a mutated FALS gene then we would have seen a pattern of once someone has ALS 50 percent of their off spring ( statistically will get it) ALS has been around for long enough that this is clearly not so
But there likely is a genetic susceptibility to ALS in many people with ALS that if exposed to certain environmental factor these people get ALS whereas most people exposed to the same things don't. Is this clearer? I hope?

 

[Jeanau]

Thanks for explaining this Nikki...now I get it. Fascinating stuff!