Public health investigating ALS cases in Eastern Townships

Eastern Townships public health authorities have launched an investigation into Lou Gehrig's disease cases in the region after a woman from Windsor, Que., alerted them to nearly 20 residents having the disorder.

The Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux de l'Estrie, the regional health board, said in an email on Wednesday that it is working to verify whether the proportion of people affected by the disease in the area is concerning or not. That process could take weeks.

"At this stage, it is much too early to make any assumptions," the health board said in an unsigned email. "We want to keep a broad vision to evaluate the different possible sources."

The Journal de Montréal first reported on the story.

If controllable environmental factors are identified as triggers, public health would look into conducting another, more complex study that could take several years, said the emailed statement.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that causes loss of muscle control. 

Windsor, Que., resident Julie Dubois said her husband Marco Brindle died of ALS last January.

Through word of mouth, she learned of 18 people who have the disease in Windsor and the surrounding area.

"That's when I said, 'That's enough!'" Dubois said. "When I got out the statistics I had, it didn't even take half an hour for public health to call me back."

Dr. Angela Genge, the director of the ALS program at the Montreal Neurological Institute and a professor at McGill University, will serve as an advisor in the investigation.

A person might inherit ALS through a mutated gene, but it can also develop in someone without a family history of the disease.

When there are no clear factors for the development of ALS, the case is considered sporadic — the type all 18 people Dubois mentioned to public health authorities appear to have, Genge said.

She noted that although studies found that professional American football players and people in the U.S. military have an increased risk of developing ALS, the exposure that triggered the disease in them is not yet known.

"In neither of these do we know what part of their exposure, whether it was a physical contact or whether they're exposed to pesticides or some other chemicals that could trigger ALS," Genge said, referring to the athletes and veterans with the disease.

Claudine Cook, executive director of the ALS Society of Quebec, said there is a need for more research on the fatal disease.

"The only way that more research is going to happen is if we have more funding," Cook said.

"Until there's a cure, until there's an effective long-term treatment that stops ALS, ALS Quebec is there to support families at every stage of the disease."

With files from Sarah-Kate Dallaire and Radio-Canada's Brigitte Marcoux, Emilie Richard and Guillaume Renaud, prepared by Holly Cabrera