Neurofibrillary tangles in ALS and Parkinsonism-dementia complex focus in Kii, Japan

Neurology. 2004 Dec 28;63(12):2399-401. doi: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000147241.52694.6a.

Abstract

Brains of 41 residents without neurodegenerative diseases in the high-incidence area of ALS/parkinsonism-dementia complex (ALS/PDC) of the Kii Peninsula of Japan were neuropathologically examined. Neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) in the hippocampal area were present in 11 of the 41 cases, but the frequency of NFT-positive cases in each age group was similar to that of the normal Japanese population and far less than that of Guamanians without ALS/PDC.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / epidemiology*
  • Brain / pathology*
  • Cause of Death
  • Cerebrovascular Disorders / pathology
  • Cluster Analysis
  • Dementia / epidemiology*
  • Female
  • Hippocampus / pathology
  • Humans
  • Japan / epidemiology
  • Liver Cirrhosis / pathology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Myocardial Infarction / pathology
  • Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Neurofibrillary Tangles / pathology*
  • Parkinson Disease / epidemiology*
  • Prevalence
  • Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / pathology
  • Violence