title: Genes and Environmental Exposures in Veterans with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: the GENEVA study. Rationale, study design and demographic characteristics.
abstract: Recent reports of a potentially increased risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) for veterans deployed to the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War prompted the Department of Veterans Affairs to establish a National Registry of Veterans with ALS, charged with the goal of enrolling all US veterans with a neurologist-confirmed diagnosis of ALS. The Genes and Environmental Exposures in Veterans with ALS study (GENEVA) is a case-control study presently enrolling cases from the Department of Veterans Affairs registry and a representative sample of veteran controls to evaluate the joint contributions of genetic susceptibility and environmental exposures to the risk of sporadic ALS. The GENEVA study design, recruitment strategies, methods of collecting DNA samples and environmental risk factor information are described here, along with a summary of demographic characteristics of the participants (537 cases, 292 controls) enrolled to date.
authors.affiliation: Center for Human Genetics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA. silke.schmidt@duke.edu
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Kelli D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: Valerie T
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Loiacono
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Norman
authors.forename: Catherine L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Stanwyck
authors.forename: Kristina M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Nord
authors.forename: Christina D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Edward J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Kasarskis
authors.forename: Freya
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kamel
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: McGuire
authors.forename: Lorene M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: Eugene Z
authors.initials: EZ
authors.lastname: Oddone
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018579:Patient Selection; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012042:Registries; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014728:Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*