By George Citroner
A fatal diagnosis with no known cure may soon be predictable.
Scientists have developed a blood test that can calculate a person’s risk of developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, by measuring exposure to environmental toxins.
This breakthrough offers hope that one day, doctors may be able to prevent this fatal illness that progressively attacks the nervous system.
Pesticide Exposure Doubles Risk of ALS
For this study, researchers analyzed over 250 blood samples from people in Michigan with and without ALS. They calculated each person’s ALS risk and survival outlook using levels of 36 persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
POPs are hazardous chemicals that can persist in the environment for years before breaking down. They also accumulate in fatty tissue, magnifying concentrations up to 70,000 times over background levels. The risk from POP exposure is called the exposome. It refers to total exposure from external and internal sources.
Pesticide mixtures containing POPs like polychlorinated biphenyls, which are industrial products or chemicals, and certain organochlorine pesticides, which are synthetic pesticides used in agriculture, were most associated with ALS risk, according to the study.
Participants with the highest exposures had double the ALS risk compared to those with the lowest. Moreover, the data suggest POPs significantly impact ALS progression as well.
“Our results emphasize the importance of understanding the breadth of environmental pollution and its effects on ALS and other diseases,” Dr. Eva Feldman, director of the NeuroNetwork for Emerging Therapies at Michigan Medicine and senior author of the study, said in a press statement.
The collective effect of environmental toxins, exposures, and even lifestyle factors play a “very significant role” in increasing ALS risk, Dr. Stephen Goutman, director of the Pranger ALS Clinic and associate director of the ALS Center of Excellence at the University of Michigan and first author of the study, told The Epoch Times.
“We are not yet at a stage where we can quantify the exact percentage that each toxin or a group of toxin plays,” he added. “But this is obviously an important question.”
Herbicide Exposure Already Linked to ALS
Research published in 2022 found that the increased ALS risk in people who are physically active outdoors, including farmers, gardeners, sportsmen, and women, is “intimately linked” to widely used glyphosate-based herbicides used to control broadleaf weeds and grasses.
However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maintains that glyphosate poses no health risk based on current use, which is inhibiting an enzyme essential for plant growth, effectively killing a broad spectrum of weeds and unwanted plants, despite weed killers containing it being sprayed on almost half the planted acres in the United States. For comparison, the EPA’s safety limits for glyphosate exposure from food are five times the levels allowed by the European Union.
Other environmental factors tied to higher ALS risk include exposure to heavy metals such as mercury, manganese, copper, and especially lead.
Dr. Goutman’s studies show environmental toxins significantly impact ALS risk and progression, he said, noting that exposure to multiple ALS-associated toxins significantly increases risk versus just one.
“This tells us that further work is needed to better understand how the exposome influences ALS and how we can eventually leverage this knowledge to inform ALS treatment and prevention strategies,” Dr. Goutman said.
ALS Incidence Projected to Significantly Increase
ALS incidence is projected to rise 70 percent worldwide by 2040, according to the University of Michigan Health. Other key facts include the following:
- Worldwide, someone is diagnosed or dies from ALS every 90 minutes.
- Ninety percent of cases occur without a family history.
- Onset is typically between ages 40 and 70.
- Life expectancy after diagnosis is two to four years.
Currently, treatment only slows ALS progression and may include medication and physical or occupational therapy. As ALS advances, walking, speaking, eating, and breathing become increasingly difficult.
