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.