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Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and multiple sclerosis likely share an environmental cause, geographic patterns reveal (medicalxpress.com)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/science@lemmy.world
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A new study published in Scientific Reports indicates that amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multiple sclerosis (MS) have an extremely high geographic association, even after controlling for race, gender, wealth, latitude, and access to neurological health care.

"The results of the study are surprising because previous studies have typically concluded there was no evidence for a mechanistic or genetic link between the two diseases," explains study author Melissa Schilling, a professor at New York University's Stern School of Business who specializes in analyzing large-scale datasets using econometrics.

The study also shows that the relationship between the two diseases has likely been overlooked until now because of a "Simpson's Paradox"—a statistical phenomenon whereby a trend appears in different groups of data but disappears or reverses when the groups are combined.

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[+] 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)
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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    The photo in the article also doesn't display the heat maps legend. Clicking on it reveals a legend at the bottom but the word "quantiles" is AI-sloppy looking. Could be a compression artifact?

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    • [+] 18 points 1 year ago (1 child)
    [deleted]
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    • [–] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 child)

    Can someone help me interpret the heatmap?

    I need clarification one what's higher is. Ie: The yellow states look to have more frequent occurrences.

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    • [–] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    Epstein Barr virus, I thought. Something something Epstein files.

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    [–] 2 points 1 year ago (7 children)

    Years ago, I read a quote from a researcher who concluded that every disease is an infection.

    I know that's not commonly believed, that's why I remembered the quote. But, maybe it will turn out he was right, someday.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Like cystic fibrosis? Sickle cell anemia? Thalassemia?

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    In a way, Sickle Cell is caused by a disease. Malaria makes this disease advantageous as children who have it are more likely to survive to adulthood and pass on the disease to offspring, despite the other deleterious impacts.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

    But, maybe it will turn out he was right, someday

    Doubtful, as it's demonstrably false.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Probably depends on the technical definition of "disease" cus obviously stuff like cancer or vitamin deficiency (scurvy) are not infections, but I'm not sure if they're considered diseases.
    Do you have a demonstration of the falsehood?

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    Probably depends on the technical definition of "disease" cus obviously stuff like cancer or vitamin deficiency (scurvy) are not infections, but I'm not sure if they're considered diseases. Do you have a demonstration of the falsehood?

    You just demonstrated the falsehood in your first paragraph; playing loosely with the definition of the word disease is precisely why the statement is flat out wrong.

    but I'm not sure if they're considered diseases.

    Which highlights the problem of just taking the platitude at face value. If you are not sure what is considered a disease, and what is not, then it is not reasonable to make claims about the platitude that All diseases are caused by infections.

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    • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (3 children)

    I might be missing the point, but doesn't MS and ALS exist everywhere in the world?

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    They seem to address that in the last paragraph:

    The study combined mortality and demographic data obtained from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention WONDER database (in the US, the collection of mortality data is mandatory and standardized) with latitude data, economic data, and data on access to neurological health care. The primary results are based on US crude mortality rates at the state level. The analysis was then replicated at the global level using mortality data from the World Health Organization and obtained nearly identical results.

    I'm unable to reach the original study though.

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