Climatic factors associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a spatial analysis from Taiwan

Abstract

Abstract. Few studies have assessed the spatial association of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) incidence in the world. The aim of this study was to identify the association of climatic factors and ALS incidence in Taiwan. A total of 1,434 subjects with the primary diagnosis of ALS between years 1997 and 2008 were identified in the national health insurance research database. The diagnosis was also verified by the national health insurance programme, which had issued and providing them with "serious disabling disease (SDD) certificates". Local indicators of spatial association were employed to investigate spatial clustering of agestandardised incidence ratios in the townships of the study area. Spatial regression was utilised to reveal any association of annual average climatic factors and ALS incidence for the 12-year study period. The climatic factors included the annual average time of sunlight exposure, average temperature, maximum temperature, minimum temperature, atmospheric pressure, rainfall, relative humidity and wind speed with spatial autocorrelation controlled. Significant correlations were only found for exposure to sunlight and rainfall and it was similar in both genders. The annual average of the former was found to be negatively correlated with ALS, while the latter was positively correlated with ALS incidence. While accepting that ALS is most probably multifactorial, it was concluded that sunlight deprivation and/or rainfall are associated to some degree with ALS incidence in Taiwan.

Effects of Global Warming on Patients with Dementia, Motor Neuron or Parkinson’s Diseases: A Comparison among Cortical and Subcortical Disorders

“…No significant correlation has been found for AD/D or ALS/MND patients. On the other hand, a lower increment in ALS/MND prevalence was found in the HT as compared to the LT clusters indicating that, for these patients, a higher temperature could somehow protect from the disease, as confirmed by the positive effect of observed sunlight exposure on reduced disease incidence in the Taiwan population, regardless of environmental warming [ 14 ]. Anyway, the higher climate temperature and/or a progressive environmental warming are reported to lead directly or indirectly to the enhancement of oxidative stress, changes in cerebrovascular hemodynamics, excitotoxicity, and microglial activation, which are all factors implicated in ALS/MND pathogenesis [ 15 ].…”

Geospatial Analysis of Environmental Atmospheric Risk Factors in Neurodegenerative Diseases: A Systematic Review

“…A study found NO (nitrogen oxide), NO 2 , and Cd (cadmium) to be positively correlated with ALS and O 3 to be inversely correlated, while benzopyrene was not found to be correlated [128]. The other study found positive correlations between ALS and both precipitation and sun exposure [129].…”

Benefits, pitfalls, and future design of population-based registers in neurodegenerative disease

“…For example, an approach for PD in Thailand (population 67 million) using 3 independent administrative sources achieved only 66% case ascertainment. 20 Registers from Scandinavia, 21 Canada, 22 the United States, 23 and Taiwan 24 have ascertained cases using administrative EHRs. As exemplified by a prescription-based register for AD in Finland requiring stringent proof of diagnosis, such an approach can successfully exclude coding errors if administrative records are a priori designed to ensure reliability in ascertainment.…”