Abstract：
:Sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (sALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease with no known cause. There are many clues to suggest an environmental trigger for the disease, including reports of conjugal couples and co-localized employees that developed sALS. On the island of Guam,a very high incidence of sALS occurred among the Chamorro natives back in the 1940s and 1950s and has been linked to the neurotoxin beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) that is produced by cyanobacteria that live symbiotically in the roots of the cycad plant, the seeds from which were a staple of the Chamorro diet. It has been shown that BMAA was biomagnified up the food chain from the cycad seeds to the now largely extinct, indigenous flying foxes, a former delicacy of the Chamorro natives. Recent evidence suggests that long term, chronic exposure to low levels of BMAA might cause ALS in genetically predisposed individuals. Many exposure routes to BMAA have been implicated thus far, including consumption of contaminated food and exposure to water harboring cyanobacterial blooms which have the capability of producing BMAA. Aerosolization is a well documented means for bacterial or toxin exposure causing subsequent illness, as in the case of brevetoxins and pulmonary disease and Legionnaire's disease. We hypothesize that some cases of ALS may be related to chronic exposure to the aerosolization of cyanobacteria derived BMAA from cooling towers and might explain the observation of conjugal ALS couples.
journal_name
Med Hypothesesjournal_title
Medical hypothesesauthors
Stommel EW,Field NC,Caller TAdoi
10.1016/j.mehy.2012.11.012subject
Has Abstractpub_date
2013-02-01 00:00:00pages
142-5issue
2eissn
0306-9877issn
1532-2777pii
S0306-9877(12)00493-8journal_volume
80pub_type
杂志文章abstract：:Oral water irrigation devices (WIDs) are widely used for oral physiotherapy in homes and dental clinics throughout the world. A major area of concern in the use of WIDs has been the possibility of injury to the sulcular epithelium and underlying tissue. There are several documented clinical cases of tissue injury with...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/0306-9877(85)90110-0
更新日期：1985-12-01 00:00:00
abstract：:The biophysical processes during electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are discussed. The multilayer head structure causes a shunting and spreading of the major portions of the current all over the extracranial tissues. The final effect is that only a small percentage of the injected current passes into the brain. The secon...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/0306-9877(94)90052-3
更新日期：1994-08-01 00:00:00
abstract：:Immunoreactive prolactin in high concentration was detected in the human semen. Therefore, the effect of prolactin on the various metabolic parameters of the human spermatozoa was studied. It was found that prolactin brought about many of the biochemical changes in the spermatozoa which are known to be associated with...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/0306-9877(79)90079-3
更新日期：1979-08-01 00:00:00
abstract：:Rheumatoid arthritis is complex and not clear on the mechanism of pathogenesis. On the basis of analysis of the symptom and pathology of rheumatoid arthritis patients, we raised a new hypothesis. The content of the hypothesis is as follows: (A) Collagen II or collagen II-Iike substance in human cartilage is the cross-...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/s0306-9877(02)00143-3
更新日期：2002-10-01 00:00:00
abstract：:Cardiac chambers have afferent connections to the brainstem and to the spinal cord. Vagal afferents mediate depressor responses and become activated by volume expansion, increased myocardial contractility and atrial natriuretic factor. Sympathetic afferents, on the contrary, are activated by metabolic mediators, myoca...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1054/mehy.1999.0029
更新日期：2000-02-01 00:00:00
abstract：:Gender differences in stem cell population have recently been identified. Blood and tissue samples from women showed consistent elevation of hematopoietic stem cell populations, mesenchymal stem cell populations and endothelial progenitor cells compared to men of similar ages. We and others have shown an increase in h...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2012.06.029
更新日期：2012-10-01 00:00:00
abstract：:Pellagra is a curable dietary illness that unchecked leads to dementia, diarrhoea, dermatitis and death due to lack of the precursors for NAD(H). In addition it caused a wide range of monosyndromic degenerative and functional neurological disorders as well as profound developmental, premature aging and metabolic syndr...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2007.01.029
更新日期：2007-01-01 00:00:00
abstract：:Breast cancer associated with pregnancy is defined as the one in which the diagnosis is made in a pregnancy or within one year of delivery. Breast cancer is the second most common malignancy during pregnancy and it is generally considered to have a worse prognosis than the one that is not associated with pregnancy. Th...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2006.05.072
更新日期：2007-01-01 00:00:00
abstract：:Almost all solid tumors consist of aneuploid cells with highly abnormal chromosome numbers. Such cancer cells could very well originate from chromosome missegregation which is a disturbingly common phenomenon, happening in 0.01 to 4 percent of cell divisions. Missegregated cells are aneuploid, typically lacking a chro...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2018.08.028
更新日期：2018-11-01 00:00:00
abstract：:The biology of natural selection is an enduring mystery, as is the nature of Charles Darwin's chronic illness. Of the theories advanced to explain the latter, Oedipal conflicts and Chagas' disease are preeminent. Hypomania, however, propelled Darwin to the pinnacle of scientific achievement and good health, the depres...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 传,历史文章,杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2007.03.013
更新日期：2007-01-01 00:00:00
abstract：:As human society is mainly cooperative, it is not clear how antisocial personality disorder (APD) persists. The current explanation is that sociopaths are cheaters who maximize their fitness by taking advantages from others. Although this argument is valid, we show here that society also benefits from APD. We propose ...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2005.05.027
更新日期：2005-01-01 00:00:00
abstract：:Emerging evidences indicate that elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels precede Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. High caloric intake based on saturated fat raises hyperlipidaemia and also promotes AD pathology. As a result, strategy that limits the absorption of dietary fat and attenuates hyperlipidemia could...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2009.04.046
更新日期：2009-11-01 00:00:00
abstract：:Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is the most severe form of illness within the spectrum of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy. Liver disease, usually consisting of mild serum transaminase elevation, occurs in almost 50% of patients with HG. While multiple risk factors have been proposed, the etiology and underlying mechanism...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2005.05.035
更新日期：2005-01-01 00:00:00
abstract：:The persistent use of different forms of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is an under-investigated issue in medical research. While the data concerning the proportion of long-term users in the population of total NRT users seems reassuring at first glance, we must recognize that the small relative numbers (proportio...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2011.08.045
更新日期：2011-12-01 00:00:00
abstract：:In a recent issue of Medical Hypotheses, Dr H L Newbold repeats the assertion that the cause of James B Duke's death in 1925 was pernicious anemia. Dr Newbold postulates that Mr Duke was neurologically impaired as a result of vitamin B-12 deficiency and that he suffered from depression. In an attempt to relieve this d...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 传,历史文章,杂志文章
doi：10.1016/0306-9877(91)90130-q
更新日期：1991-11-01 00:00:00
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journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2007.07.032
更新日期：2008-01-01 00:00:00
abstract：:Sickle cell anaemia confirms that minor mutations in protein sequence can have catastrophic effects. However, RNA transcription depends on polymerases that have low fidelity and introduce errors at a rate of 10(-5) substitutions/base synthesised. For many large proteins translation of these errors could result in sign...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2004.02.024
更新日期：2004-01-01 00:00:00
abstract：:Given the reports made about dogs detecting cancer on the basis of odour, our hypothesis is that the volatile organic compounds produced by tumours, and detected by dogs, are products of MHC genes. Two lines of evidences support this hypothesis: (1) human body odour is genetically determined by MHC. These antigen mole...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2005.08.027
更新日期：2006-01-01 00:00:00
abstract：:The presented hypothesis suggests that chronic latent malaria infection prepares the niche where the otherwise feeble HIV coinfection can thrive and cause AIDS. It is suggested that the roots of the HIV outbreak and AIDS pandemic lay in the urbanization processes in Africa that resulted in the eradication of the Anoph...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1054/mehy.2001.1299
更新日期：2001-10-01 00:00:00
abstract：:The possibility of a pathway, common to progression, in entities in which activated macrophages or microglia are present, amenable to particular therapies, is discussed. Immunoglobulin synthesis and activation of the complement pathway may be critical elements in progression. It is possible progression in a proportion...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2006.06.001
更新日期：2006-01-01 00:00:00
abstract：:The physical interaction between the red blood cells and colloidal silica leads to hemolysis. We propose that the nature of the red-cell elimination as the result of this interaction is not random. As the negatively charged silica particles at the physiological conditions electrostatically react with the positive site...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/s0306-9877(96)90046-8
更新日期：1996-07-01 00:00:00
abstract：:Oral administration of L-arginine in pharmacological doses induces growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-I responses and stimulates nitric oxide synthesis. Growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-I are important mediators of bone turnover and osteoblastic bone formation, while nitric oxide is a potent in...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/0306-9877(94)90113-9
更新日期：1994-11-01 00:00:00
abstract：:The inverse association between maternal folate status and incidence of infants born with neural tube defects (NTD's) was recognized over twenty years ago and led the US health agencies in the early 1990s to recommend that women of childbearing age consume 400 microg of folic acid each day. The FDA followed by mandati...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2008.04.013
更新日期：2008-09-01 00:00:00
abstract：:Knowledge about how information is stored in neurons of animals and in the human brain is still incomplete. A hypothesis related to long-term changes in synaptic efficiency has strong experimental support, but does not seem to be able to explain all observations. It has recently been proposed that magnetite together w...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2018.07.003
更新日期：2018-10-01 00:00:00
abstract：:Many clinical trials have clearly demonstrated the benefit of statins in the prevention of coronary heart disease. Although other effects have subsequently been described, the so-called pleiotropic effects of statins, there is a tendency to relate all those effects, more or less directly, to inhibition of 3-hydroxy-3-...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2006.02.046
更新日期：2006-01-01 00:00:00
abstract：:Hypertension is the leading cause of cardiovascular diseases, and an estimated 972 million people in the world are suffering from this problem. Indubitably, hypertension is an important worldwide public-health challenge. In recent years many efforts have been made to devise novel therapies involving new targets implic...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2009.03.030
更新日期：2009-09-01 00:00:00
abstract：:Epidemiologic literatures suggest that temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD) are more prevalent in women than in men. It is affecting approximately 7-15% of the adult population in North America, and 80% of patients treated for TMD are women. The severity of symptoms is also related to the age of the patients. The g...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2008.05.011
更新日期：2008-10-01 00:00:00
abstract：:Studies have suggested that the brain renin angiotensin system (RAS) regulates cerebral flow, autonomic and hormonal systems, stress, innate immune response and behavior, being implicated in several brain disorders such as major depression, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. The angiotensin II receptor subtype 1 (AT...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2012.11.043
更新日期：2013-03-01 00:00:00
abstract：:I hypothesize that the intermediates of the kynurenine (Kyn) pathway (KP) of tryptophan (Trp) degradation kynurenic acid (KA) and quinolinic acid (QA) play opposite roles in inflammatory diseases, with KA being antiinflammatory and QA being immunosuppressant. Darlington et al. have demonstrated a decrease in the ratio...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2018.06.021
更新日期：2018-09-01 00:00:00
abstract：INTRODUCTION:Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) or biventricular pacing (BIVP) has become a common procedure for the treatment of ventricular dyssynchrony in patients with heart failure, particularly in those with bundle branch block patterns (QRS durations >150ms) on the electrocardiogram (ECG). However, a large ...
journal_title：Medical hypotheses
pub_type： 杂志文章
doi：10.1016/j.mehy.2017.09.026
更新日期：2017-11-01 00:00:00
