A team led by Pranger ALS Clinic Director Stephen Goutman, M.D., M.S., and Director of both the ALS Center of Excellence and NeuroNetwork for Emerging Therapies Eva Feldman, M.D., Ph.D., recently published a study in the academic journal Muscle & Nerve that looked at whether body mass index (BMI) is associated with ALS Survival. The journal not only published the findings but featured them on its March 2023 cover.
Muscle & Nerve's summary of the paper in "Issue Highlights:"
3 BODY MASS INDEX ASSOCIATES WITH AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS SURVIVAL AND METABOLOMIC PROFILES (PAGE 208)
Weight loss early in the course of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is associated with shorter survival. This study assessed changes in body mass index (BMI) in individuals with ALS prior to the development of symptoms, and found that BMI decreased by more than 25% in the 10 years preceding the diagnosis of ALS, and that most of this occurred in the 5 years prior to diagnosis. They also found relationships between BMI, BMI trends, and survival. Certain metabolomic profiles were associated with BMI trajectories. An accompanying editorial by Drs. Dupuis and Chio reviews the complex and sometimes contradictory literature on BMI and ALS, and discusses the metabolomic profiles identified in the current paper.
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Eva Feldman, MD, PhD
