ALS Cases Caused By Blue-Green Algae

by | Jun 7, 2009 | Environment News, Viruses & Bacteria News | 2 comments


CyanobacteriaDoctors and scientists at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire have stated that cases of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, are twenty five times higher for people who live around Mascoma Lake than the norm. They have linked these local occurrences of the fatal neurodegenerative disease to cyanobacteria, single-celled organisms—often referred to as blue-green algae—found in lakes and ponds that release harmful neurotoxins and can trigger ALS in people with a genetic susceptibility.

According to this article, irresponsible human behavior such as “dumping of sewage and other pollutants, including yard waste such as grass clippings” and “nitrogen and phosphorous, which come from runoff created by development” are believed to trigger the proliferation of cyanobacteria blooms.

Ritchie C. Shoemaker, MD (chronicneurotoxins.com) a biotoxin illness specialist who practices in Pokomoke, Maryland, includes cyanobacteria illness in his book Mold Warriors. In the book, he details how the body gets sick from biotoxins like this algae, and how to recover. He also provides information on how to test for genetic susceptibility to cyanobacteria, which can be done with a simple blood test.

2 Comments

  1. sue

    shouldn’t the sell of blue green algae by the Health stores be banned ?

  2. earthwalker

    Sue, that’s a really good point. However blue-green algae is considered a superfood so maybe there are different strains, some beneficial and others toxic. I can’t tolerate blue-green algae myself.

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