Relationship between brain injury, ALS

Traumatic brain injury may contribute to the risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

In a retrospective study published in JAMA Network Open, investigators used electronic health records from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, Hospital Episode Statistics and the Office for National Statistics to examine the prevalence of ALS among a group of less than 350,000 patients with and without traumatic brain injury.

After a follow-up of more than five years, the investigators found that the patients with traumatic brain injury had higher incidence rates of ALS compared with those who didn’t have the injury. The risk of ALS was higher in the first two years following traumatic brain injury.

The findings suggested that traumatic brain injury could present early evidence of subclinical ALS in some patients.

Read more: JAMA Network Open

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