ALS disease onset may occur later in patients with pre-morbid diabetes mellitus

Eur J Neurol. 2010 May;17(5):733-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-1331.2009.02923.x. Epub 2010 Jan 13.

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.

MeSH terms

  • Age of Onset
  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / epidemiology*
  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / etiology
  • Cognition Disorders / complications
  • Cognition Disorders / epidemiology
  • Comorbidity
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / complications
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / epidemiology*
  • Disease Progression
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hyperlipidemias / complications
  • Hyperlipidemias / epidemiology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Obesity / complications
  • Obesity / epidemiology
  • Survival Rate