Lateral (lateral) amyotrophic sclerosis (ALS) is a disease that destroys nerve cells and makes it impossible for people to control their bodies. A person affected by this disease can die within two years of the first symptoms. Although the famous astrophysicist Stephen Hawking has been fighting it for 55 years.
“Several previous studies have shown that electricians and people in general who work with electrical installations are at increased risk of developing this disease,” says Neil Pearce of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. "It is not known exactly why this risk is increased, but the two most likely explanations are the effects of electric shock or prolonged exposure to very low frequency magnetic fields."
In the course of the work, scientists have collected and analyzed data on 58 thousand men and 6.5 thousand women. The results showed that the second assumption seems to be more correct.
Roel Vermeulen of the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, along with his team, found that people whose occupations are exposed to strong, very low frequency magnetic fields are twice as likely to develop ALS compared to people who have not. when working.
“Occupations where workers are exposed to relatively strong, very low frequency magnetic fields include power line installers, welders, sewing machine operators and aircraft pilots,” says Vermeulen. “These are mainly professions where workers are close to installations that consume large amounts of electrical energy.”
The team emphasizes that this study is merely observational, but there is no evidence that such fields cause disease. Only the connection of this factor with the likelihood of developing the disease has been proven. However, the new work contains the best evidence available so far that, most likely, the reason is still precisely in the magnetic fields.
“This study, unlike previous ones, deals with much more information about cases of exposure to magnetic fields, - says Pierce, - However, the threshold of statistical significance in this study is only slightly higher, and since the disease was ultimately diagnosed in only 82 people the test result may well turn out to be false positive."
Pierce's colleague Brian Dickie of the British charity Motor Neurone Disease Association adds: “This motor neuron disease is devastating and complex in nature. Most likely, it is caused by a wide range of causes in each individual person, from environmental factors to genetic characteristics."
Promotional video:
