History of Allergic Disorders in Common Neurologic Diseases in Japanese Patients

Objective: To clarify the association between past and present history of allergic disorders and neurologic diseases.

Methods: The past and present history of common allergic disorders together with family history was prospectively studied in all out-patients at the Department of Neurology at Kyushu University Hospital from March 1998 to February 2000.

Results: Among 3113 out-patients, 2152 (69.1%) completed a questionnaire. Myelitis showed a statistically significant increase of concomitant atopic dermatitis (P=0.006) and concomitant and past atopic dermatitis (P=0.014), as compared with neurologically healthy controls. Moreover, patients with lower motoneuron disease (LMND) had a statistically significant increase of past and concomitant asthma (P=0.007). None of the other common neurologic diseases showed any increase of allergic disorders when compared with controls.

Conclusions: The present study supports the significant association between allergic disorders and such spinal cord diseases as myelitis and LMND in Japanese patients.