Title |
Endogenous female reproductive hormones and the risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
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Published in |
Journal of Neurology, September 2012
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DOI | 10.1007/s00415-012-6665-5 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Sonja de Jong, Mark Huisman, Nadia Sutedja, Anneke van der Kooi, Marianne de Visser, Jurgen Schelhaas, Yvonne van der Schouw, Jan Veldink, Leonard van den Berg |
Abstract |
The pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is considered to be multifactorial. Several epidemiological studies showed a lower incidence of ALS in women than in men. This suggests a possible protective effect of female reproductive hormones. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between female reproductive hormones and ALS. We performed a population-based, case-control study in the Netherlands between 1st January 2006 and 1st December 2009. Only women with a natural menopause were included in the analysis. A total of 209 (85 %) of 246 female patients and 672 (93 %) of 719 controls returned a questionnaire on reproductive history to calculate the reproductive time-span and lifetime endogenous estrogen exposure (calculated by subtracting the duration of pregnancies and of oral contraceptive use, and the number of post-ovulatory weeks from the reproductive time-span). 131 (63 %) patients and 430 (64 %) age-matched, population-based controls had experienced a natural menopause. Multivariate analysis showed that increasing the reproductive time-span by a year decreases the risk of ALS with an OR of 0.95 (p = 0.005). Each year longer reproductive time-span [HR 0.90 (p = 0.01)] and lifetime endogenous estrogen exposure [HR 0.96 (p = 0.025)] were associated with a longer survival of ALS patients. The positive association of a longer reproductive time-span and susceptibility and survival of ALS might imply that longer exposure to female reproductive hormones has a neuroprotective effect on motor neurons. |
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Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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United Kingdom | 1 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
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Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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Spain | 1 | 2% |
Mexico | 1 | 2% |
Argentina | 1 | 2% |
Brazil | 1 | 2% |
Unknown | 61 | 94% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
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Student > Ph. D. Student | 15 | 23% |
Student > Bachelor | 7 | 11% |
Student > Master | 6 | 9% |
Researcher | 6 | 9% |
Other | 5 | 8% |
Other | 8 | 12% |
Unknown | 18 | 28% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
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Medicine and Dentistry | 14 | 22% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 11 | 17% |
Neuroscience | 7 | 11% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 6 | 9% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 2 | 3% |
Other | 3 | 5% |
Unknown | 22 | 34% |