Caboose
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Statistics
Statistics are a useful tool for describing the chance of something. An example is the postulate that the average age for people being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease is 65, and the standard deviation is nine years. The average age is easy—the average age of people being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease is 65 and (using the standard deviation):
A tiny fraction, 0.03 %, of those diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease are younger than 38 or older than 92 at the time of diagnosis.
About 5 % will be younger than 47 or older than 83 at the time of diagnosis.
In other words, the chance of getting Lou Gehrig's disease before the age of 38 is rare. The chance of being stressed or something else leading one to think about Lou Gehrig's disease or a similar diseases before the age of 38 is of course much higher. In fact, people in their thirties are often very busy with jobs, etc., compared to both older and younger people.
Unfortunately, the distribution of Lou Gehrig's disease incidences within age groups is not entirely normally distributed, so the number of people getting ALS in their thirties may be higher.
It is difficult (almost impossible) to say how old people are, on average, if they are diagnosed with ALS. The reason for this is because the data varies from study to study, and the methods of diagnosis are different from country to country. However, in a study from Ireland from 1995-1997, the mean age of the onset of ALS was 64.2 and 67.8 years for men and women, respectively1. In a study from Serbia (Yugoslavia) from 1985-1991, the average age of onset of Lou Gehrig's disease was 56.2 years with a standard deviation of 9.8 years2. In an Italian study 3, the average age at onset of Lou Gehrig's disease was 61.3 ± 10.2 years; that study included associated risks of exposure to lead. Exposure to heavy metals and the incidence rate of Lou Gehrig's disease is also something which has been studied extensively in Japan. In a Norwegian study4 the average of Lou Gehrig's disease onset was 60.9 years—no standard deviation was given.
Before you read the section about Lou Gehrig's disease statistics and real numbers about incidence and prevalence, please consider this if you are younger than 40 years old:
If the incidence of ALS is 2/100,000, two in every 100,000 people are diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease each year. Comparing this number to the age distribution numbers shortly outlined will tell us that the chance of getting Lou Gehrig's disease any particular year, when you are younger than 38, is about 1:165,000,000. Yes, one in 165 million people a year.
Now, these numbers are taken out of the thin air. The real numbers surrounding the actual number of people getting Lou Gehrig's disease and the risk of getting Lou Gehrig's disease must be found in peer reviewed journals. I have compiled the results of some of the studies that have led to publication in these types of journals. These results can be found in the section about statistics.
"Lou Gehrig's disease is either sporadic or genetic. Ninety to ninety-five percent of those diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease have the sporadic form, while 5-10 % of all incidences have a record of the disease in their families."
Taken From : Lou Gehrig's disease - fear more common than the disease itself
Statistics are a useful tool for describing the chance of something. An example is the postulate that the average age for people being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease is 65, and the standard deviation is nine years. The average age is easy—the average age of people being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease is 65 and (using the standard deviation):
A tiny fraction, 0.03 %, of those diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease are younger than 38 or older than 92 at the time of diagnosis.
About 5 % will be younger than 47 or older than 83 at the time of diagnosis.
In other words, the chance of getting Lou Gehrig's disease before the age of 38 is rare. The chance of being stressed or something else leading one to think about Lou Gehrig's disease or a similar diseases before the age of 38 is of course much higher. In fact, people in their thirties are often very busy with jobs, etc., compared to both older and younger people.
Unfortunately, the distribution of Lou Gehrig's disease incidences within age groups is not entirely normally distributed, so the number of people getting ALS in their thirties may be higher.
It is difficult (almost impossible) to say how old people are, on average, if they are diagnosed with ALS. The reason for this is because the data varies from study to study, and the methods of diagnosis are different from country to country. However, in a study from Ireland from 1995-1997, the mean age of the onset of ALS was 64.2 and 67.8 years for men and women, respectively1. In a study from Serbia (Yugoslavia) from 1985-1991, the average age of onset of Lou Gehrig's disease was 56.2 years with a standard deviation of 9.8 years2. In an Italian study 3, the average age at onset of Lou Gehrig's disease was 61.3 ± 10.2 years; that study included associated risks of exposure to lead. Exposure to heavy metals and the incidence rate of Lou Gehrig's disease is also something which has been studied extensively in Japan. In a Norwegian study4 the average of Lou Gehrig's disease onset was 60.9 years—no standard deviation was given.
Before you read the section about Lou Gehrig's disease statistics and real numbers about incidence and prevalence, please consider this if you are younger than 40 years old:
If the incidence of ALS is 2/100,000, two in every 100,000 people are diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease each year. Comparing this number to the age distribution numbers shortly outlined will tell us that the chance of getting Lou Gehrig's disease any particular year, when you are younger than 38, is about 1:165,000,000. Yes, one in 165 million people a year.
Now, these numbers are taken out of the thin air. The real numbers surrounding the actual number of people getting Lou Gehrig's disease and the risk of getting Lou Gehrig's disease must be found in peer reviewed journals. I have compiled the results of some of the studies that have led to publication in these types of journals. These results can be found in the section about statistics.
"Lou Gehrig's disease is either sporadic or genetic. Ninety to ninety-five percent of those diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease have the sporadic form, while 5-10 % of all incidences have a record of the disease in their families."
Taken From : Lou Gehrig's disease - fear more common than the disease itself