Thanks for posting this. I've treated a woman in Saraland for MS. She tells me there is also a high incidence of MS in the Mobile area.
I've long suspected a possible causative agent from something released into the air by the paper mills. I've no research that indicates similar clusters of other or similar diseases in other areas with paper mills.
An MS patient in Colorado once told me that there were six cases of MS in her subdivision. That is almost statistically impossible for so many to contract the disease in such a small area without some environmental causative agent. She told me they all had lived in the neighborhood for a fairly short time. Unfortunately, she died soon after I met her.
Since this article is part one could you ping me if and when there are subsequent articles printed. Thank you.
I will ping you. So far, it's had brief flashes on the news and whispered rumors at the grocery store.
Growing up I only knew one person with MS (none with ALS, only read about Lou Gehrig), seems like now almost everyone I meet knows someone with MS and/or ALS..
As a child visiting my grandparents in Mobile, we could always tell when we were close because of the smell. I've always associated the paper mill smell (rotten eggs?) with spanish moss! Funny how associations happen in a young mind.
Dr. Nancy McLeod was my MIL's neurologist. Never have I met a more compassionae doctor, and I've met my share with my dads illnesses. I was with my MIL when the doc said it was time for a vent if she wanted it, which my MIL refused...only opting for a feeding tube.
I remember seeing a television special a long time ago about a Foster Grant sunglasses factory that was abandoned and a bunch of kids used to play there. None of the kids ever became sick, but their kids and grandkids did.
I forget the details as this was some ten years ago at least.