Biomaterial Database

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and parkinsonism-dementia among Filipino migrants to Guam. 1981

R M Garruto, and D C Gajdusek, and K M Chen

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has occurred in 9 Filipino migrants to Guam 1 to 29 years after their arrival and parkinsonism-dementia (PD) in 2 migrants 13 and 26 years after arrival. Seven additional Filipino patients developed more classic Parkinson disease (P) 5 to 24 years after their migration to Guam. Furthermore, 10 part-Filipino patients who were born on Guam of Filipino and Chamorro parentage developed ALS, while 6 such part-Filipino patients developed PD. An estimate of the average annual crude mortality rate for ALS among Filipino migrants was approximately six times that of the continental United States, yet half that currently observed among Chamorros living on Guam. A majority of all migrant patients were born in northwestern Luzon in the Philippine Islands, indicating the desirability of an intensive field epidemiological investigation in that area.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D010300	Parkinson Disease	A progressive, degenerative neurologic disease characterized by a TREMOR that is maximal at rest, retropulsion (i.e. a tendency to fall backwards), rigidity, stooped posture, slowness of voluntary movements, and a masklike facial expression. Pathologic features include loss of melanin containing neurons in the substantia nigra and other pigmented nuclei of the brainstem. LEWY BODIES are present in the substantia nigra and locus coeruleus but may also be found in a related condition (LEWY BODY DISEASE, DIFFUSE) characterized by dementia in combination with varying degrees of parkinsonism. (Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p1059, pp1067-75)	Idiopathic Parkinson Disease,Lewy Body Parkinson Disease,Paralysis Agitans,Primary Parkinsonism,Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease,Lewy Body Parkinson's Disease,Parkinson Disease, Idiopathic,Parkinson's Disease,Parkinson's Disease, Idiopathic,Parkinson's Disease, Lewy Body,Parkinsonism, Primary
D010679	Philippines	A country in southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, and east of Vietnam. The capital is Manila.	Philipines,Phillipines,Phillippines
D003704	Dementia	An acquired organic mental disorder with loss of intellectual abilities of sufficient severity to interfere with social or occupational functioning. The dysfunction is multifaceted and involves memory, behavior, personality, judgment, attention, spatial relations, language, abstract thought, and other executive functions. The intellectual decline is usually progressive, and initially spares the level of consciousness.	Senile Paranoid Dementia,Amentia,Familial Dementia,Amentias,Dementia, Familial,Dementias,Dementias, Familial,Dementias, Senile Paranoid,Familial Dementias,Paranoid Dementia, Senile,Paranoid Dementias, Senile,Senile Paranoid Dementias
D005006	Ethnicity	A group of people with a common cultural heritage that sets them apart from others in a variety of social relationships.	Ethnic Groups,Nationality,Ethnic Group,Nationalities
D005260	Female		Females
D006141	Guam	An island in Micronesia, east of the Philippines, the largest and southernmost of the Marianas. Its capital is Agana. It was discovered by Magellan in 1521 and occupied by Spain in 1565. They ceded it to the United States in 1898. It is an unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Department of the Interior since 1950. The derivation of the name Guam is in dispute. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p471)
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults