Moderate to high levels of physical activity can reduce the risk of developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in men but not women, a new study shows. “The diagnosis of prominent athletes with ALS at young ages has sparked the uncomfortable idea that higher physical activity could be tied to developing ALS,” Dr. Anders Myhre Vaage of Akershus University Hospital in Norway, a study co-author, said in a news release.
ALS is a fatal motor neurodegenerative disease. Its other name, Lou Gehrig’s disease, comes from the famous baseball player of the same name who died from ALS. The disease causes progressive degeneration of the nerve cells within the spinal cord and brain.
Most people die from respiratory failure after they lose nerve function in the nerves that help them breathe. “There have been conflicting findings on levels of physical activity, fitness and ALS risk. Our study found that for men, living a more active lifestyle could be linked to a reduced risk of ALS more than 30 years later,” said Dr.
Myhre Vaage. The research team followed up with the participants up to three decades years later and found that about 500 had developed ALS. Men with the lowest resting heart rate—an indication of physical fitness—had a 32 percent reduced risk of developing ALS compared with those in the second-highest quartile.
“Our findings show that, for men, not only do moderate to high levels of physical activity and fitness not inc.