UK: Armed forces veterans have 50% increased risk of motor neurone disease

[unhappycamper]

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/oct/25/armed-forces-veterans-increased-risk-motor-neurone-disease-mnd

Study finds soldiers have far higher risk of developing MND compared with people who never served in the armed forces

Armed forces veterans have 50% increased risk of motor neurone disease
Sunday 25 October 2015 07.43 EDT

Soldiers who have been in the UK armed forces are 50% more likely to develop motor neurone disease than those who have never served, a new study has found.

The incurable neurodegenerative disease attacks nerves in the brain and spinal cord leading to progressive paralysis and affects about 5,000 people in the UK.

A number of studies in the US – where MND is known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease – linked the condition to military service in the Gulf. In the latest study, researchers from the University of Glasgow looked at Scottish veterans.

The team analysed 57,000 veterans who were born between 1945 and 1985 and who had a wide range of experience and length of service in the armed forces, using the data to examine rates of hospitalisation and death from MND.