Abstract

Overview

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is identified as a neurodegenerative disease which leads to progressive muscular paralysis due to motor neurons degeneration.

Findings

• Recent studies have explored genetic and epigenetic factors contributing to motor neuron damage in ALS, focusing notably on occupational and lifestyle influences.
• The study centers on the significance of occupational exposures in ALS onset, with special consideration given to the analysis of literature data.
• Reviewed articles pin an elevated risk of ALS linked to occupational exposure, particularly to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF).

Conclusion

The review documents biases in existing studies, making it hard to draw definitive conclusions regarding the occupational risks associated with ALS. However, a meta-analysis acknowledges a slightly increased risk of ALS among workers exposed to ELF-EMF, underlining the urgent need for detailed investigation tools like a job exposure matrix (JEM).