Increasing trend of ALS in France and elsewhere: are the changes real?

We analyzed 9,005 deaths from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis recorded in France between the years 1968 and 1982. The overall adjusted mortality rates were 1.45/100,000 for men and 0.90/100,000 for women. We found excess male mortality in every age group. Age-specific mortality rates increased with age until 65-74 years and then declined in the older population. There was no meaningful regional pattern. We found a substantial increase in ALS mortality over time: the adjusted rates (per 100,000) in the period 1968 to 1971 were 1.11 for men and 0.63 for women. In the period 1979 to 1982, the corresponding figures were 1.92 and 1.12. The increase was mainly due to persons over 55 years of age and affected mostly the women during the first part of the study (1968 to 1978). In the recent years, increase appeared similar in both sexes. The temporal trends are consistent across studies in different countries.