Manual workers face twice the risk of developing ALS newswise.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from newswise.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Credit: Source: Mark Zammit Cordina, Times of Malta
ALS is a progressive neurological disease that attacks the nerves that interact with the body s muscles. The disease typically leads to complete paralysis of the body, robbing patients of their ability to walk, speak, eat and breathe.
Researchers studied ALS patients and healthy elderly volunteers living in Malta who took part in an ongoing study aiming at identifying genetic and environmental risk factors. Malta is a sovereign microstate in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and is home to a geographically and culturally isolated population. Recently, Maltese ALS patients were found to have a unique genetic makeup compared to their European counterparts.
Manual labourers, especially construction workers and carpenters, are twice as likely to be diagnosed with ALS, according to University of Malta research.
Four years of analysing demographic data revealed that those engaged in heavy physical labour in Malta have an increased risk of developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
“Close to two-thirds of ALS patients reported a blue-collar job as their main occupation during their entire career, which supports a link between a history of intense physical activity and this neurological condition,” senior lecturer Dr Ruben Cauchi told
Times of Malta.
“However, while research abroad has shown increased risk among Italian football players, American National Football League players and military service people, in Malta the risk increases among craft and related trades workers, especially construction labourers.”