Head Injury and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

• Published in: American journal of epidemiology Vol. 166; no. 7; pp. 810 - 816
• Main Authors: Chen, Honglei, Richard, Marie, Sandler, Dale P., Umbach, David M., Kamel, Freya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cary, NC Oxford University Press 01.10.2007; Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - epidemiology; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - etiology; Analysis. Health state; Athletes; Biological and medical sciences; Case-Control Studies; closed; Confidence Intervals; craniocerebral trauma; Craniocerebral Trauma - complications; Craniocerebral Trauma - epidemiology; Epidemiology; Female; General aspects; Head injuries; Humans; Injuries of the nervous system and the skull. Diseases due to physical agents; Life Style; Male; Medical sciences; Meta-analysis; Middle Aged; New England - epidemiology; Odds Ratio; Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology; penetrating; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Soccer - injuries; Traumas. Diseases due to physical agents; New England; craniocerebral trauma; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; head injuries, closed; head injuries, penetrating; Human; Nervous system diseases; closed; head injuries; Craniocerebral; Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; penetrating; Epidemiology; Central nervous system disease; Degenerative disease; Head trauma; Spinal cord disease; Public health; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; craniocerebral trauma; head injuries
• ISSN: 0002-9262; 1476-6256
• DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwm153

Recent data showed that soccer players in Italy had an unusually high risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and that repeated head trauma might have contributed to this increase. The authors examined whether head injury was related to ALS risk in a case-control study of 109 New England ALS cases diagnosed in 1993–1996 and 255 matched controls. They also conducted a meta-analysis of the published literature. Overall, ever having experienced a head injury was nonsignificantly associated with a higher ALS risk. When compared with persons without a head injury, a statistically significant ALS risk elevation was found for participants with more than one head injury (odds ratio (OR) = 3.1, 95 percent confidence interval (CI): 1.2, 8.1) and patients who had had a head injury during the past 10 years (OR = 3.2, 95 percent CI: 1.0, 10.2). For participants who had had multiple head injuries with the latest occurring in the past 10 years, risk was elevated more than 11-fold. The meta-analysis also indicated a moderately elevated risk of ALS among persons with previous head injuries (OR = 1.7, 95 percent CI: 1.3, 2.2). In this study population, physical injuries to other body parts, including the trunk, arms, or legs, were not related to ALS risk. These data support the notion that head injury may increase the risk of ALS.