Vitamin E May Decrease,
Military Service May Increase
ALS Risk

Data collected from nearly a million people who participated in a questionnaire-based study beginning in 1982 and ending in 1998 have been used to determine what, if any, links exist between diet and other lifestyle factors and causes of death.

When the data were analyzed with respect to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), investigators found that taking vitamin E supplements may help prevent the disease, and that service in the military may add to the risk of developing it.

Those who reported taking vitamin E supplements for at least 15 days a month for 10 years or longer had 38 percent as great a chance of developing ALS compared to those who never used vitamin E. For those taking vitamin E for fewer than 10 years, the risk was 59 percent of the risk for non-vitamin E users.

Albert Ashcerio, an associate professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and an author on both studies, cautions that no one should use vitamin E on the basis of these results, which need confirmation. The vitamin E study is in the January Annals of Neurology.

Data on military service were collected on approximately 400,000 men who filled out the ACS questionnaire. All military service took place before the Gulf War. Of the 280 ALS-related deaths recorded, 217 were among the 281,874 men who had served in the military, implying an ALS death rate of about 0.08 percent among the ex-military; and 63 were among the 126,414 who had never served, making an ALS death rate of about 0.05 percent in that group.

Men who served in the military had 1.53 times the chance of dying from ALS compared to those who never served.

In their January paper in Neurology, the authors say the results suggest that exposures associated with military service but not unique to the Gulf War should be investigated.