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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: An Aging-Related Disease

  • Neurology of Aging (KS Marder, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly progressive disorder characterized primarily by selective neurodegeneration of the motor neurons. The basis of diagnosis is the presence of signs of both upper and lower motor neuron involvement in more than one body region. ALS was considered until a few years ago a disease of young adults but recently population-based studies have consistently shown that ALS is an age-related disease with age incidence curve similar to other age-dependent neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. The peak of incidence is in the eighth decade and declines thereafter, first in men and then in women. In the majority of cases, ALS is sporadic while 5–10 % of the disease is familiar. After the identification of C9ORF72, it is now recognized that the definition of familial ALS can be enlarged to include family members with frontotemporal dementia considering the tight link between the two nosological entities.

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Acknowledgements

We thank P Couratier and JC Desport for their suggestions on the nutrition and respiratory sections of the paper.

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Conflict of Interest

Giancarlo Logroscino, Rosanna Tortelli, Giovanni Rizzo, Benoît Marin, Pierre Marie Preux, and Andrea Malaspina declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy

    Giancarlo Logroscino

  2. Unit of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Department of Clinical Research in Neurology, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Pia Fondazione Cardinale G. Panico, 73039, Tricase, Lecce, Italy

    Giancarlo Logroscino, Rosanna Tortelli & Giovanni Rizzo

  3. Univ. Limoges, UMR_S 1094, Tropical Neuroepidemiology, Institute of Neuroepidemiology and Tropical Neurology, CNRS FR 3503 GEIST, F-87000, Limoges, France

    Benoît Marin & Pierre Marie Preux

  4. INSERM, U1094, Tropical Neuroepidemiology, Limoges, France

    Benoît Marin & Pierre Marie Preux

  5. Blizard Institute, Institute of Cell and Molecular Science, Neuroscience and Trauma Centre, Barts Health, 2 Newark Street, London, E1 2AT, UK

    Andrea Malaspina

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  1. Giancarlo Logroscino
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  2. Rosanna Tortelli
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Correspondence to Giancarlo Logroscino.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Neurology of Aging

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Logroscino, G., Tortelli, R., Rizzo, G. et al. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: An Aging-Related Disease. Curr Geri Rep 4, 142–153 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13670-015-0127-8

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