Abstract
Background Several metabolic derangements associated with diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM) have been associated with a better outcome in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), including hyperlipidemia and obesity. Here, we tested the hypothesis that DM would have a positive effect on the motor and cognitive findings of ALS. Methods: We compared data from ALS patients with pre-morbid DM (ALS-DM; n = 175) versus without DM (ALS; n = 2196) with regard to the age of onset, rate of motor progression, survival, and neuropsychological test performance. Results: The age of onset was later for women, Caucasians and patients with bulbar-onset ALS. However, we also found that after adjusting for gender, ethnicity and site of onset, DM was associated with a 4-year later onset of ALS (ALS = 56.3, ALS-DM = 60.3, P < 0.05). Conclusion: Diabetes mellitus type 2 may delay the onset of motor symptoms in ALS. These findings support other studies suggesting a relationship between the pathophysiology of ALS and metabolic derangements. Further investigations are needed to ascertain whether manipulating metabolic parameters would improve outcomes in ALS.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 733-739 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | European Journal of Neurology |
Volume | 17 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2010 |
Keywords
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- Cognition
- Diabetes mellitus
- Onset
- Progression
- Survival
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Neurology
- Neurology