Researchers reviewed the medical records of more than 9 million men and 780,000 women who received care at VA hospitals and clinics between 2000 and 2024. Approximately 14,400 patients had an ALS diagnosis, according to a new study. (Stars and Stripes)
Male veterans who served in the Air Force, Coast Guard and Navy have higher rates of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — a fatal nerve disease also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease — compared to those who served in the Army and Marine Corps, according to a new study.
The study examined medical records of nearly 10 million veterans enrolled in health care with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“Differences among branches were most evident for men younger than 61 and were less evident among men older than 75,” according to the study.
ALS is a degenerative disease that causes paralysis and has no known cure. The average lifespan after diagnosis is two to five years.
The findings were published last week in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
ALS diagnoses were highest among male veterans 61 and younger who had served in the Air Force, Coast Guard and Navy, compared to veteran populations in the Army and Marine Corps, according to the study.
The VA recognizes ALS as a medical condition connected to military service and provides a 100% disability rating for veterans who served longer than 90 days and were diagnosed with ALS.
“Military service is a known risk factor for the development of ALS, but little is known about what factors may contribute to that risk,” said Marc G. Weisskopf, a researcher with Harvard University and one of the study’s authors.
Prior VA-sponsored studies have shown that U.S. veterans are 1.5 times more likely to get ALS compared with people who never served in the military.
“I live with ALS every day, and I’ve seen too many fellow veterans face this same disease without answers, said Air Force veteran Jessy Ybarra, who is shown with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., in March 2025. (ALS Association)
“I live with ALS every day, and I’ve seen too many fellow veterans face this same disease without answers,” said Air Force veteran Jessy Ybarra of California, who testified last year in support of legislation to advance ALS research into understanding the higher rate of ALS in the military population.
Ybarra, a former munitions systems specialist, was diagnosed with ALS at age 53 after seeking medical help for fatigue and weakness in one arm.
The Veterans With ALS Reporting Act has not been heard by the full House Veterans’ Affairs Committee where it was referred in April.
Potential risks from military service could include exposures to heavy metals, pesticides and exhaust fumes; the effects of blasts and explosions; and traumatic brain injuries, according to the National Institutes of Health.
For this study, researchers reviewed the medical records of more than 9 million men and 780,000 women who received care at VA hospitals and clinics between 2000 and 2024.
Approximately 14,400 had an ALS diagnosis, according to the study.
Scientists looked at the incidence of ALS by service branch, rank, gender and age group for the study titled “Association of Military Branch and Rank With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Incidence Among United States Veterans.”
But they could not fully analyze the prevalence of the disease in female veterans, because of the lower number of women with military service and a diagnosis of ALS, a rare disease, according to MedLink Neurology.
The medical records of Army veterans represented the largest group examined in the study.
“It is imperative to identify relevant exposures to reduce harm to service members and, potentially, civilians with similar exposures,” according to the study.
When compared to Army veterans, Air Force veterans had a 29% higher rate of ALS, Navy veterans had a 15% higher rate and Coast Guard veterans had a 26% higher rate, according to the study. Marine veterans had a 22% lower rate than Army veterans.
Both male and female officers across all branches showed higher rates of ALS than enlisted personnel.
“Officers tend to experience more psychosocial stress, with pilots experiencing high G-forces, noise and vibration as well as circadian disruption, while enlisted personnel usually experience more extreme physical exercise, heavy weapons use and handling of fuels and solvents,” Weisskopf said.
Although ALS is a rare disorder, the findings overall indicate that some service members may have environmental or occupational exposures that increase their risk, according to ALS News Today, which reports on work to understand the disease and find a cure.
“This may help future studies nail down exactly what those risk factors might be,” according to ALS News Today.
The study received support from the Centers for Disease Control, the Paralyzed Veterans of America Foundation and The ALS Network.
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