ArticlePloS one2014
Environmental risk factors and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): a case-control study of ALS in Michigan.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 61 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
61 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 109 citations in OpenAlex.
- Physical activity as risk factor in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of neurology · 2023Pooled it
- Urbanization, air pollution, and water pollution: Identification of potential environmental risk factors associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis using systematic reviews.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Pooled it
- Risk factors associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis based on the observational study: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Pooled it
- Population-based study of environmental/occupational lead exposure and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2020Pooled it
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Occupational Exposures: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analyses.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Pooled it
- A meta-analysis of observational studies of the association between chronic occupational exposure to lead and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.Journal of occupational and environmental medicine · 2014Pooled it
- From Environment to Symptoms: Mapping Premorbid Risk Factors onto Clinical Features of ALS in a Patient-Reported Database in China.Neurology and therapy · 2026Article
- Elevated serum trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) and trimethyllysine in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): An exploratory case-control study.IBRO neuroscience reports · 2026Article
- Air pollution and mortality in a University of Michigan amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cohort: a survival analysis.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2026Article
- Genetic commonalities between rare subtypes of ALS and CMT: insights into molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration.Amino acids · 2026Review
- Strenuous physical activity is associated with a younger age of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis onset in two independent cohorts.Brain communications · 2026Article
- Smoking and the risk of neurodegenerative diseases in a Chinese case-control study.BMJ neurology open · 2026Article
- Head trauma and environment progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: long-term data from the National ALS Registry.BMJ neurology open · 2026Article
- Unraveling the Military Service-MND Connection: Time Frame, Exposures, and Phenotypic Considerations.European journal of neurology · 2025Article
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Focus on Cytoplasmic Trafficking and Proteostasis.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Review
- Multiple metal exposures associate with higher amyotrophic lateral sclerosis risk and mortality independent of genetic risk and correlate to self-reported exposures: a case-control study.Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry · 2025Article
- Early life events may be the first steps on the multistep path to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Review
- Residential exposure associations with ALS risk, survival, and phenotype: a Michigan-based case-control study.Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis & frontotemporal degeneration · 2024Article
- What do you think caused your ALS? An analysis of the CDC national amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patient registry qualitative risk factor data using artificial intelligence and qualitative methodology.Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis & frontotemporal degeneration · 2024Article
1 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
An interim report of a case-control study was conducted to explore the role of environmental factors in the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Sixty-six cases and 66 age- and gender-matched controls were recruited. Detailed information regarding residence history, occupational history, smoking, physical activity, and other factors was obtained using questionnaires. The association of ALS with potential risk factors, including smoking, physical activity and chemical exposure, was investigated using conditional logistic regression models. As compared to controls, a greater number of our randomly selected ALS patients reported exposure to fertilizers to treat private yards and gardens and occupational exposure to pesticides in the last 30 years than our randomly selected control cases. Smoking, occupational exposures to metals, dust/fibers/fumes/gas and radiation, and physical activity were not associated with ALS when comparing the randomly selected ALS patients to the control subjects. To further explore and confirm results, exposures over several time frames, including 0-10 and 10-30 years earlier, were considered, and analyses were stratified by age and gender. Pesticide and fertilizer exposure were both significantly associated with ALS in the randomly selected ALS patients. While study results need to be interpreted cautiously given the small sample size and the lack of direct exposure measures, these results suggest that environmental and particularly residential exposure factors warrant close attention in studies examining risk factors of ALS.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.