Subjects | Age (y)â€
| M/F (n) | Age of onset (y) | Disease duration‡ (mo) | Smokers (n) | Alcohol consumers (n) | Non-vegetarian (n) | Total protein (g/l)â€
|
|---|
| Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | CSF | Serum |
|---|
ALS | 47.4 ± 12.4 | 38/12 | 46.2 ± 12.8 | 19.0 ± 12.7 | 12 | 12 | 20 | 0.43 ± 0.2 | 48.2 ± 26.7 |
Controls (Serum) | 40.0 ± 12.8 | 39/11 |  |  | 10 | 14 | 27 |  | 48.7 ± 28.7 |
Controls (CSF) | 43.4 ± 17.1 | 35/07 |  |  | 08 | 09 | 10 | 0.42 ± 0.1 |  |
- Clinical and demographic summary of ALS cases and controls. n, Number; M, male; F, female; y, years; mo, months; g, gram; l, litre; CSF, cerebrospinal fluid; Age, age of onset, duration of disease, CSF and serum total protein are indicated as mean ± standard deviation (SD). †One way ANOVA followed by LSD post hoc analysis showed that mean age and, mean concentration of total protein in serum and CSF did not differ significantly among the groups (p > 0.05). ‡ Duration of disease is the interval between appearance of first symptom of ALS and collection of sample. ALS subjects were asked to provide all clinical and demographic details at the age of disease-onset.
