MONDAY, Sept. 9, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- Here's one time when being slim and in shape may not be the best thing: A team of Columbia University researchers has found one predictor of motor neuron disease is having been a slim, varsity-level athlete.
The study appears in the latest issue of Neurology.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease because of the famous New York Yankee who died from it in 1941 at the age of 37. No cure has been found. Ironically, another famous Yankee, pitcher Jim "Catfish" Hunter, died from ALS in 1999 at age 53.
Unlike his more famous teammate Babe Ruth, Gehrig was always in shape and was called the Iron Horse, because he played in more consecutive ballgames than any other player. His record was eventually broken by Cal Ripken Jr.
As researchers began searching for similarities in people who contracted ALS, they noticed many patients who were lean throughout their lives as well as being athletes, says Dr. Lewis P. Rowland, who co-authored the study.
According to the American Academy of Neurology, the study compared variables including body mass index (BMI), age at onset of the disease, sex, slimness and participation in varsity athletics of 279 patients with motor neuron disease and 152 with other neurological diseases.
"We found the odds of having motor neuron disease was 2.21 times higher in subjects who reported they had always been slim than in those who did not. Further, motor neuron disease was 1.70 times higher in patients who reported they had been varsity athletes," says Dr. Nikolaos Scarmeas, who headed the study.
Now that the association has been made, scientists need to center on whether there is an actual cause-and-effect for motor neuron disease in top athletes. One theory is that vigorous physical activity might increase exposure to environmental toxins and speed them to the brain. Another is that the athlete's susceptibility to motor neuron disease is increased through added physical stress.
Before you think this new information is a reason to stop exercising, the rersearchers caution against such a conclusion.
Rowland says "thousands and thousands of slim athletes never develop ALS. Why a tiny few of them do is unknown. We do know that there is no justification to avoid athletics in an attempt to avoid motor neuron diseases."
More information
The ALS Foundation can give you an up-to-date accounting of how much progress is being made to find a cure.
