Causative+Factors

Causative Factors: The origin of ALS is under much speculation where the consensus is unknown to date, although several theories have arisen and certain lifestyles and exposure to specific activity have demonstrated considerable patterns linked to ALS. There is one form of the disease accounting for about ten percent of those diagnosed that have the inherited form, which is associated with a mutation of the SOD1 gene. The SOD1 gene has thus became the comparison to which all other cases are compared. Many other studies point to those having served in the military having an increased risk of ALS as well. A study was published “excess incidence of ALS in young Gulf War veterans” examined veterans 45 years and younger and found that ALS occurred in these veterans at more than twice the rate as in the general population. The causes for such a deviation from the normal ranges is not quite understood. Many leading scientists in the field believe that rises in the likelihood of acquiring ALS is likely to have environmental ties. Heavy metal exposure is thought to disturb conduction between cells that could may cause glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity and other abnormalities of intracellular calcium regulation that may cause the mitochondrial abnormalities observed from those who posses a mutant SOD1 gene. Other leading theories point to autoimmunity, specifically activated microglia cells and T cells that have been found in the spinal cords of patients who have IgG antibodies against their own motor neurons. Along with mutations in the gene for superoxide dusmutase 1 gene(SOD1) the most widely accepted views result from mutations in neurofilament genes, and inflammation of injury to axons which both result in axonal strangulation and eventual death. These most likely of scenarios still do not produce a viable model that shows how one becomes part of the ALS community.

ALS Etiology