Came upon this article yesterday in Scientific America on research on ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease looking into possible causes ot it. Those that come into contact with blue green algae (pond scum blooms) in lakes, etc. will probably find this article interesting. As mentioned in the article, the cyanobacteria BMAA produced by the algae can be found in many other sources around the world.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-algae-blooms-linked-to-lou-gehrig-s-disease/

In 2012 there was a presentation at TEDxJacksonHole which associates the cyanobacteria BMAA in sagos to ALS in a village in Guam. This is the same research team in this video that is mentioned in the SA article above as now doing a second round of trials.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7jWi6WQQ9wo

(For some reason I'm not able to embed the video)

Wow - I just noticed this thread. I posted a similar one 5 days later that also received no responses. I also posted on Facebook...crickets. I don't know about you, but I find this stuff fascinating - the effects of BMAA on protein folding, the bio-magnification of BMAA in shellfish (blue crabs, pink shrimp, mussels, et al), the clustering of ALS around bodies of water containing cyanobacteria blooms, finding BMAA in the brains of those with ALS, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, but not those with Huntington's (a neurodegenerative disease with a known genetic cause), etc.

-t

Clearly I find it interesting as well Tom! I knew sagos had potent toxins in them having read about dogs that have eaten the fruit and died painful deaths but the potential link to ALS in that village with the sago connection I thought was fascinating. I never would have made a connection to sagos with BMAA before reading this article. Research like this and into the algae in the lakes with ALS in surrounding communities, could yield a wonderful medical breakthrough. I hope these resulting trials prove fruitful. I don't personally know anyone suffering from ALS but I'm sure this forum reaches someone who does know someone.

I'm heading over to read the link on your thread. Thanks.

I know people who have had relatives or friends with ALS, but haven't known anyone who personally suffered from the disease. A few years ago my band played a charity fund-raiser for ALS - an outdoor gig on a cold, rainy, completely miserable day, but one we didn't mind doing at all.