Smoking and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A mendelian randomization study
Abstract
In this study, we examined the potential causal effect of smoking on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using the Project MinE data involving 12,577 patients with ALS and 23,475 controls in a Mendelian randomization (MR) framework. The MR approach has the potential to investigate a causal relationship between a risk factor and a disease, avoiding confounding and information bias that often present in conventional epidemiological studies. We found that smokers had a higher risk of ALS compared to never smokers. Our study thus provides evidence for a causal relationship between smoking and ALS. Ann Neurol 2019;85:482–484
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Mendelian Randomization studies have provided evidence for a causal link between smoking and risk for ALS.
“Some observational studies showed a positive association for current smoking but no association for former smoking [7, 14, 15], while Mendelian Randomization studies have provided evidence for a causal link between smoking and risk for ALS [49].”
From Lifestyle and medical conditions in relation to ALS risk and progression—an introduction to the Swedish ALSrisc Study (2024) · cites this paper as [49]
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- Authors
- Zhan, Y., & Fang, F.
- Affiliations
- Karolinska Institutet (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Zhan, Yiqiang
- Venue
- Annals of Neurology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2019-03-13
- Volume
- 85
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 482-484
- ISSN
- 0364-5134 (ISSN-L)
- 1531-8249
- OpenAlex
- W2917571390
- Cited by
- 56
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 7
- FWCI
- 6.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Annals of Neurology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Vetenskapsrådet
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
- Keywords
- smoking, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, causal effects, risk factors, neurodegenerative diseases
- MeSH terms
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Humans, Prospective Studies, Risk Factors, Smoking, Cohort Studies, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Mendelian Randomization Analysis
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