A new study by Queen Elizabeth University Hospital researchers suggests concussions and traumatic brain injuries could be early warning signs for ALS. File Photo by Dan Peled/EPA
Concussions and traumatic brain injuries have been considered a potential cause of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
But a new study argues the association might be the other way around, with concussions providing an early warning sign among folks already in the early stages of ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
The loss of muscle control that comes with early ALS might increase people's risk for a concussion-causing fall or accident, researchers write in JAMA Network Open.
If that's so, then "TBI in some individuals perhaps [reflects] a consequence of early, subclinical ALS," concluded the research team led by Dr. William Stewart, a neuropathologist at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, U.K.
