SLIM, athletic people seem to be at greater risk of developing motor neuron disease.
Lewis Rowland at Columbia University in New York and his colleagues studied 431 patients. About two-thirds of them had motor neuron disease, while the rest had other neurological disorders. They found that 38 per cent of the motor neuron patients had taken part in high school or college-level sports, compared to only 26 per cent of controls, and 14 per cent of the general public (Neurology, vol 59, p 773).
The researchers speculate that vigorous exercise might somehow trigger the disease in vulnerable individuals, or…
