Plants, bats magnify neurotoxin in Guam
By Susan Milius
Researchers have turned up new evidence that a natural toxin that grows more concentrated as it moves up the food chain might have caused a puzzling spike in a neurodegenerative disease in Guam.
Starting in the mid-20th century, this disease–which shares traits with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease–began increasing among Guam’s Chamorro people (SN: 5/17/03, p. 310: Available to subscribers at Troubling Treat: Guam mystery disease from bat entrée?). Last year, scientists proposed a new explanation: The presence of flying foxes, a type of bat, on the dinner plate rose with the availability of guns and then declined as the bats became extinct. Abundance of the delicacy exposed people to more of the