Author(s): Oliveira Santos, Miguel ; Gromicho, Marta ; Pinto, Susana ; Pronto Laborinho, Ana Catarina ; Carvalho, Mamede
Date: 2023
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10451/56761
Origin: Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa
Subject(s): Sub-Saharan Africa; Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Clinical characteristics; Prognosis; Survival
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly progressive condition characterized by upper and lower motor neuron loss. Over the last decades, epidemiological and clinical data from European, North America and high-incoming Asia-Pacific countries has been extensively collected and analyzed, improving the knowledge regarding ALS. However, ALS had not been reported in Africans until 1955. Even today, data from Africa is scarce. A systematic review on ALS in African patients identified common features when compared with Western ones: a higher male predominance, more frequent younger onset. Other clinical aspects, including cognition, prognosis, genetic, and survival are still a matter of debate. Moreover, there are significant differences between African and Western societies, concerning not only genetic background and environmental factors, but also access to health care system and proper treatments, which particularly may influence survival.
