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Guam ALS/Parkinsonism-Dementia: A Long-Latency Neurotoxic Disorder Caused by “Slow Toxin(s)” in Food?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 January 2016

Peter S. Spencer
Peter S. Spencer*
Affiliation:
Institute of Neurotoxology, Departments of Neuroscience, Neurology, and Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, N.Y.
*
Institute of Neurotoxicology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, N.Y., U.S.A. 10461
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Abstract:

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Parkinsonism (P) with progressive dementia (D) of the Alzheimer type is recognized as a clinical variant of a form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) that has occurred in high incidence among the Chamorro people of the islands of Guam and Rota in the Marianas chain of Micronesia. The declining annual incidence, upward shifting of the age of onset, narrowing of the sex ratio, and occurrence of the disease among non-Chamorros, point to a disappearing environmental causation peculiar to the traditional culture of these islands. Evidence is presented in support of the proposal that heavy use of certain toxic plants, notably cycads, a traditional source of food and medicine for the Chamorro people, plays an important etiological role. Clinical and epidemiological approaches are offered to test for a relationship between ALS/P-D and long-latency plant toxicity.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences , Volume 14 , Issue S3 , August 1987 , pp. 347 - 357
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation 1987

References

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