PEOPLE hurt by lightning or large electric shocks may be more likely to
develop motor neuron disease, according to William Camu at the Hospital Gui de
Chauliac in Montpellier.
Camu and his team studied six patients with motor neuron disease who had
suffered an electric shock, on average three and a half years before developing
the illness. In each case, the disease started where the shock entered or exited
the body.
鈥淎lthough rare, electrical trauma should be more often considered as a
possible cause of motor neuron disease,鈥� Camu鈥檚 team say in the Journal of
Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry (vol 71, p 265).
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Brian Dickie of Britain鈥檚 Motor Neurone Disease Association says that trauma,
including electric shock, is already recognised as a possible trigger for rare
forms of the disease.