For Publishers
DiscoveryMetadataPeer reviewHostingPublishing
For Researchers
JoinPublishReviewCollect
Register
Blog
About
Search
Advanced search
My ScienceOpen
Search
For Publishers
For Researchers
Blog
About
8
views
53
references
 Top references
cited by
11
    
0 reviews
 Review
0
comments
 Comment
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      150
      similar
       All similar
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      Motor neuron disease mortality rates in U.S. states are associated with well water use

      research-article

      Read this article at

      ScienceOpenPublisherPMC
      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease with an unknown cause and invariably fatal outcome. We sought to evaluate a correlation between motor neuron disease (MND) mortality rates and residential radon levels that was previously reported for counties in the United Kingdom. We examined the relationships between age-adjusted MND mortality rates in U.S. states with residential radon levels, well water use, and other variables using structural equation modeling. We observed a significant correlation between MND mortality rates and radon levels. However, in structural equation models, radon did not have a significant, direct effect on MND mortality rates. Conversely, MND mortality rates were significantly and directly predicted by race and by the percentage of the population of each state using well water ( p < 0.001 and p = 0.022). We observed similar, significant effects for well water use and MND mortality for males and females separately ( p < 0.05). In conclusion, we hypothesize that the association of MND mortality rates with well water use reflects contamination of wells with Legionella, a bacterium common in well water that is known to cause neurologic disease. A Legionella hypothesis is a biologically plausible cause of ALS and suggests new avenues for etiologic research.

          Related collections

          Most cited references53

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: not found

          Epidemiology and Ecology of Opportunistic Premise Plumbing Pathogens: Legionella pneumophila, Mycobacterium avium, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

          Joseph Falkinham, Elizabeth D. Hilborn, Matthew J. Arduino … (2015)
          Background Legionella pneumophila, Mycobacterium avium, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are opportunistic premise plumbing pathogens (OPPPs) that persist and grow in household plumbing, habitats they share with humans. Infections caused by these OPPPs involve individuals with preexisting risk factors and frequently require hospitalization. Objectives The objectives of this report are to alert professionals of the impact of OPPPs, the fact that 30% of the population may be exposed to OPPPs, and the need to develop means to reduce OPPP exposure. We herein present a review of the epidemiology and ecology of these three bacterial OPPPs, specifically to identify common and unique features. Methods A Water Research Foundation–sponsored workshop gathered experts from across the United States to review the characteristics of OPPPs, identify problems, and develop a list of research priorities to address critical knowledge gaps with respect to increasing OPPP-associated disease. Discussion OPPPs share the common characteristics of disinfectant resistance and growth in biofilms in water distribution systems or premise plumbing. Thus, they share a number of habitats with humans (e.g., showers) that can lead to exposure and infection. The frequency of OPPP-infected individuals is rising and will likely continue to rise as the number of at-risk individuals is increasing. Improved reporting of OPPP disease and increased understanding of the genetic, physiologic, and structural characteristics governing the persistence and growth of OPPPs in drinking water distribution systems and premise plumbing is needed. Conclusions Because broadly effective community-level engineering interventions for the control of OPPPs have yet to be identified, and because the number of at-risk individuals will continue to rise, it is likely that OPPP-related infections will continue to increase. However, it is possible that individuals can take measures (e.g., raise hot water heater temperatures and filter water) to reduce home exposures. Citation Falkinham JO III, Hilborn ED, Arduino MJ, Pruden A, Edwards MA. 2015. Epidemiology and ecology of opportunistic premise plumbing pathogens: Legionella pneumophila, Mycobacterium avium, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Environ Health Perspect 123:749–758; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1408692
          Article 0 comments Cited 85 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: not found

            Premorbid body mass index and risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

            Éilis J O’Reilly, Hao-Hao Wang, Marc G Weisskopf … (2013)
            Our objective was to determine if amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) risk varies according to body mass index (BMI) captured up to three decades earlier. At baseline 537,968 females and 562,942 males in five ongoing cohorts reported height, current weight and weight at age 18/21 years. During 14-28 years of follow-up, 1153 participants developed ALS. Cohort-specific Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate rates that were then pooled with random-effects models. Results showed that lower BMI at baseline was associated with ALS; for each 5-unit increase in BMI, ALS rates were 21% lower (95% CI 14% 27%). Compared to individuals with healthy BMI, ALS rates were significantly lower among the overweight (RR = 0.76 (95% CI 0.62-0.93)) and obese (RR = 0.73 (95% CI 0.55-0.96)). Among never smokers the association persisted: RR = 0.75 (95% CI 0.65-0.85) for each 5-unit increase. Excluding the first seven years of follow-up, the associations were materially unchanged suggesting that weight loss from undiagnosed disease does not fully explain the findings. Overall, 75% of males and females had a healthy BMI at age 18/21 years, 15% of males and 8% of females were overweight or obese; there was no association with ALS although numbers with an unhealthy weight were small. In conclusion, these findings support an association between lower premorbid BMI and ALS.
            Article 0 comments Cited 64 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: found
              • Article: not found

              Smoking may be considered an established risk factor for sporadic ALS.

              Carmel Armon (2009)
              A 2003 evidence-based review of exogenous risk factors for sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) identified smoking as the only risk factor that attained "probable" (more likely than not) status, based on 2 class II studies. The purpose of the current, evidence-based, update was to see if the conclusion of the previous review needed to be modified, based on studies published since. A Medline literature search was conducted for the period between 2003 and April 2009 using the search terms smoking and (ALS or "amyotrophic lateral sclerosis" or MND or "motor neuron disease"). The references of primary articles and reviews were checked to assure completeness of the search. Primary articles published since the previous review were classified as before. Twenty-eight titles were identified, but only 7 articles met inclusion criteria. Of these, 1 provided class II evidence, and 1 class III evidence: both showed increased risk of ALS with smoking. The class II study showed a dose-response effect, and risk decreasing with number of years since quitting smoking. Five articles provided class IV or V evidence, which may not be relied upon to draw conclusions. Smoking may be considered an established risk factor for sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (level A rating; 3 class II studies, 1 class III study). Evidence-based analysis of epidemiologic data shows concordance among results of better-designed studies linking smoking to ALS, and lets those results drive the conclusions.
              Article 0 comments Cited 45 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
                Bookmark
                All references

                Author and article information

                Journal
                Journal ID (nlm-ta): Amyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener
                Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Amyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener
                Journal ID (archive): IAFD
                Journal ID (publisher-id): iafd20
                Title: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis & Frontotemporal Degeneration
                Publisher: Taylor & Francis
                ISSN (Print): 2167-8421
                ISSN (Electronic): 2167-9223
                Publication date (Print): 16 November 2016
                Publication date (Electronic): 21 June 2016
                Volume: 17
                Issue: 7-8
                Pages: 528-534
                Affiliations
                [ a ]Department of Population Health, University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences , Grand Forks, ND, USA
                Author notes
                Correspondence: G. G. Schwartz, Department of Population Health, University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences , 501 N Columbia Road, Stop 9037, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA. Fax: 701 777 0980. E-mail: gary.schwartz@ 123456med.und.edu
                Article
                Publisher ID: 1195409
                DOI: 10.1080/21678421.2016.1195409
                PMC ID: 5152538
                PubMed ID: 27324739
                SO-VID: 6e296cca-d9d4-48af-9bde-708d9e95497b
                Copyright © © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
                License:

                This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.

                History
                Date received : 10 February 2016
                Date revision received : 4 April 2016
                Date accepted : 25 April 2016
                Page count
                Pages: 7
                Funding
                Funded by: This project was completed without grant support.
                Categories
                Subject: Article
                Subject: Research Article

                Keywords: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,well water,radon,legionella,hypothesis
                Data availability:
                Keywords: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, well water, radon, legionella, hypothesis

                Comments

                Comment on this article

                scite_

                Similar content150

                See all similar

                Cited by11

                See all cited by

                Most referenced authors455

                See all reference authors