Surprise risk factors for ALS include golfing and gardening — here’s why: study

Be fore-warned.

Hitting the greens to golf puts men at three times the risk of developing ALS, a new study from Michigan Medicine warns.

“We know that occupational risk factors, like working in manufacturing and trade industries, are linked to an increased risk for ALS, and this adds to a growing literature that recreational activities may also represent important and possibly modifiable risk factors for this disease,” said first author Dr. Stephen Goutman, who is director of the Pranger ALS Clinic and associate director of the ALS Center of Excellence at the University of Michigan.

Gardening, yard work, woodworking and hunting were listed among other risk factors.

The study looked at the lives of 700 people — 400 who had ALS and 300 without the disease — and dove specifically into their hobbies and non-work activities.

Goutman conjectures that golfers and gardeners are especially prone because of frequent exposure to pesticides, which prior Michigan research has tied to the disease’s growth in patients.

As for woodworkers, the author believes that breathing in formaldehyde has a similar impact, as noted in other studies previously.

He added that it was “surprising” to not see an elevated risk of ALS in women who golf or partake in the other listed activities. However, Goutman added that the study size of females was too small to draw definite conclusions.

“Future studies should include these activities to pinpoint how they can be understood in the context of ALS prevention, diagnosis and treatment,” he said.

This new paper, published in the Journal of the Neurological Sciences, also doubles down on the risk environmental factors pose in a person getting and succumbing to ALS.

“Our goal is to understand what occupations and hobbies increase ALS risk because identifying these activities provides the first step towards ALS prevention,” said senior author Dr. Eva Feldman.

 “Our goal is to establish a similar list for ALS to create a roadmap to decrease risk.”