Multiple Sclerosis and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

THIS paper describes the results of recent epidemiologic and genetic research in multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It is hoped that inferences presented here on the etiology of the two syndromes will stimulate clinical and laboratory investigations that may verify or correct these inferences.The term "human genetics" is generally well understood; but to avoid the connotation that epidemiology relates only to communicable diseases, we refer to a modification of Maxcy's1 definition of epidemiology as the field of science dealing with the various factors that determine the frequency, the geographic distribution and the population selectivity of a disease, an . . .