Posted on 08/13/2024 7:29:01 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
People with higher levels of metals found in their blood and urine may be more likely to be diagnosed with—and die from—amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a study suggests.
Researchers have known that ALS, a rare but fatal neurodegenerative condition, is influenced by genetic and environmental factors, including exposure to pesticides and metals.
This latest study examined the levels of metals in the blood and urine of people with and without ALS, finding that exposure to individual metals and mixtures of metals is associated with a greater risk for ALS and shorter survival.
Goutman's team measured metal levels in plasma and urine samples from over 450 people with ALS and nearly 300 people without the condition.
They found that elevated levels of individual metals, including copper, selenium and zinc, were significantly associated with higher ALS risk and earlier death.
They then used these results to create environmental ALS risk scores. The environmental risk scores indicated that mixtures of metals in plasma and urine are linked to around a three-times greater risk for the disease.
In this study, the inclusion of an ALS polygenic risk score to assess a potential moderating effect of underlying genetic factors did not alter the association between metal exposure and disease risk or survival.
Investigators also discovered that participants working in occupations with a higher likelihood of metal exposure had increased levels of metal mixtures in their blood and urine.
This echoes a previous study from the research team which found that people with ALS reported higher occupational exposure to metals prior to diagnosis.
By avoiding high risk activities associated with metal exposures, Goutman says, individuals might lower their overall exposure and potentially mitigate risk.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Selenium, copper, and zinc were noted metals identified in ALS patient fluids.
That would explain Lou Gehrig, baseball’s Iron Man.
Had a friend who died from that. She was tested for all of that and was negative and died. Nonsense. All “knowledge” is not final.
Cause or correlation? I see nothing here that eliminates correlation.
Yes, most people excrete those metals and they are fortunate because they won’t be harmed by them. But some people are not able to excrete them and they build up. The average person can continue to eat their regular foods and even take their daily vitamins and minerals.
Selenium, copper, and zinc are all essential to good health in small amounts, and toxic in excess. Personally I doubt that they cause ALS, and am guessing that their excretion is due to a disease process. An environmental toxin called β-Methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) from cyanobacteria has been linked to significantly increased occurrence of sporadic ALS in populations with frequent dietary consumption of food sources containing high levels of BMAA — including the Chamorro population of Guam where ALS incidence is approximately 100 times greater than other populations https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19929726/ .
Wowser. What's their diet consist of?
Uh oh...I’ve been taking a zinc supplement since COVID started.
maybe, but it’s genetic
my Wife, her Father and her Brother all died of it, so...
I had a friend who worked his way through college in the early 70’s making beverage cans. He complained that he often came home covered in tin and steel dust. He died a few months ago of ALS. Thanks for posting.
Actually, high iron can be a problem too. It's not something that the mainstream medical establishment looks for.
Wow- lots of folks take zinc, especially during covid-
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