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Luu, the paper you linked to does not postulate that ALS is caused by retroviruses. It simply points out that HIV, like many syndromes, can have neurological symptoms associated with it. The HERV-K overexpression data (some PALS show evidence of a certain virus, to which ALS may make them more vulnerable) are, as the authors acknowledge, subject to chicken and egg issues.
If ALS were contagious in the way you describe, those of us who cared for PALS for years and shared their food, etc. would show an unusual incidence of ALS, given that especially their parents and children would be expected to share genetic vulnerability. No such data exist.
As for the notion that some mutation carries a susceptibility to a retrovirus, we are seeing success in therapies designed to attack the genetic variants we know exist, as Nikki noted, and those therapies are not antivirals.
If you want to contact scientists regarding these theories, please do so on your own time, though I would think you would prefer to spend that time with your father. Chasing your own diagnosis when we have pointed out how far-fetched it is surely will not help him, either.
Please don't post further on the idea of contagious ALS.
Best,
Laurie
If ALS were contagious in the way you describe, those of us who cared for PALS for years and shared their food, etc. would show an unusual incidence of ALS, given that especially their parents and children would be expected to share genetic vulnerability. No such data exist.
As for the notion that some mutation carries a susceptibility to a retrovirus, we are seeing success in therapies designed to attack the genetic variants we know exist, as Nikki noted, and those therapies are not antivirals.
If you want to contact scientists regarding these theories, please do so on your own time, though I would think you would prefer to spend that time with your father. Chasing your own diagnosis when we have pointed out how far-fetched it is surely will not help him, either.
Please don't post further on the idea of contagious ALS.
Best,
Laurie
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