Confirmation of Self-Reported Incident ALS Cases in the AARP-Diet and Health (AARP-DH) Cohort
Condition: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
MeSH terms: Motor Neuron Disease; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a rare but rapidly progressive neurological disease
      that often results in death within a few years after the diagnosis. The incidence of ALS in
      the US is approximately 2.0/100,000/year and is age dependent. Very few epidemiological
      studies have investigated the causes of ALS. Last year, Dr. Alberto Ascherio at Harvard
      School of Public Health successfully obtained a RO1 grant to investigate the risk of ALS by
      documenting ALS cases in five well-established large prospective cohorts: The Nurses' Health
      Study (NHS), the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS), the Cancer Prevention Study II
      Nutrition Cohort (CPS IIN), the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC), and the NIH-American Association of
      Retired Persons Diet and Health Study (AARP-DH). The primary aims of this grant are to
      prospectively clarify the associations between diet and smoking and risk of ALS in this to
      date the largest epidemiological study on ALS. Incident ALS cases will be documented via
      biennial questionnaires in the first three cohorts. While mortality data will be obtained in
      the MEC and AARP-DH cohorts by searching the National Death Index (NDI) Plus, it is also
      desirable to identify surviving incident cases in these two cohorts.

      The objective of this specific proposal is to ascertain the self-reported incident ALS cases
      from the AARP-DH study and obtain consent for medical release following the procedures set up
      for Parkinson's disease (PD) cases in the currently approved Parkinson's Genes and
      Environment (PAGE) Study IRB approval #06-E-N093. The confirmed ALS cases may be analyzed as
      part of the RO1 project. We expect to identify 300 self-reported ALS cases from the AARP
      cohort. Detailed analytic plans will be coordinated with Dr. Ascherio.
    

Detailed description: 
      Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a rare but rapidly progressive neurological disease
      that often results in death within a few years after the diagnosis. The incidence of ALS in
      the US is approximately 2.0/100,000/year and is age dependent. Very few epidemiological
      studies have investigated the causes of ALS. Last year, Dr. Alberto Ascherio at Harvard
      School of Public Health successfully obtained a RO1 grant to investigate the risk of ALS by
      documenting ALS cases in five well-established large prospective cohorts: The Nurses' Health
      Study (NHS), the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS), the Cancer Prevention Study II
      Nutrition Cohort (CPS IIN), the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC), and the NIH-American Association of
      Retired Persons Diet and Health Study (AARP-DH). The primary aims of this grant are to
      prospectively clarify the associations between diet and smoking and risk of ALS in this to
      date the largest epidemiological study on ALS. Incident ALS cases will be documented via
      biennial questionnaires in the first three cohorts. While mortality data will be obtained in
      the MEC and AARP-DH cohorts by searching the National Death Index (NDI) Plus, it is also
      desirable to identify surviving incident cases in these two cohorts.

      The objective of this specific proposal is to ascertain the self-reported incident ALS cases
      from the AARP-DH study and obtain consent for medical release following the procedures set up
      for Parkinson's disease (PD) cases in the currently approved Parkinson's Genes and
      Environment (PAGE) Study IRB approval #06-E-N093. The confirmed ALS cases may be analyzed as
      part of the RO1 project. We expect to identify 300 self-reported ALS cases from the AARP
      cohort. Detailed analytic plans will be coordinated with Dr. Ascherio.
    

Keywords: Public Health; Elderly Population; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Exposure; Lifestyle