Neurofibrillary change on Guam
L. Chen
Distribution and occurrence of neurofibrillary change (NFC) in the brain
were studied in 114 Guamanians who had neither amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS) nor parkinsonism dementia (PD). Comparison was made with 28
Guamanians with ALS-PD and 53 non-Guamanians without ALS-PD. Search for NFC
was made in 15 dogs and cats that lived on Guam. Most of the Guamanians
without ALS-PD during and after middle age had NFC similar to that of
Guamanians with ALS-PD but lesser in degree and extent of involvement. It
is possible that the general population of Guam had been exposed to the
unknown etiologic agent of ALS-PD during some previous period.
