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Full-screen ALS is a neurological disease that leads to muscle wasting and paralysis. Most people affected are between 70 and 80 years old. Archive image. Photo: Christine Olsson/TT
The number of people in Sweden who contract the fatal nerve disease ALS continues to increase, reports SR Ekot.
According to a new research report published in the Journal of neurology, researchers have been able to determine that roughly 400 people a year are affected by the disease. This can be compared to the 250 people previously estimated.
Caroline Ingre is a senior physician at Karolinska University Hospital and one of the researchers behind the report. She believes that the increase may to some extent be due to the fact that the population is getting older and that we in Sweden are efficient at registering the disease.
– This is a disease that has increased continuously for a long time and continues to increase. If we understand what it is that causes each individual to get the disease, we can direct the treatment and then we have a greater chance of success with the treatment, she tells Ekot.
Karolinska University Hospital, the Karolinska Institute and Örebro University are behind the report. The work has also been financed by Ulla-Carin Lindquist’s foundation and the Swedish Research Council.