REPORT: Could there be a link between Cyanobacteria and ALS? New Hampshire lakes, scientists are exploring idea
WMUR Reports:
LEBANON, N.H. — Doctors and scientists at Dartmouth College and the University of New Hampshire are among a team exploring whether environmental toxins may be related to neurodegenerative diseases.
They have found that cyanobacteria, formerly known as blue-green algae, may be linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Dr. Elijah Stommel, of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and his neurological resident, Dr. Tracie Caller, began using Google Maps to plot the residences of their patients with ALS.
“We found that people who live next to lakes with persistent cyanobacterial blooms have up to a 25-fold increased chance of developing ALS,” Stommel said. “These results have been of deep concern to me and my colleagues.”
