§ Mr. WeirTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in the United Kingdom by nation and region, are diagnosed as having Lou Gehrig's disease; and what percentage of these are veterans of the Gulf War in the last year for which figures are available. [23207]
§ Jacqui SmithLou Gehrig's disease is classified as motor neurone disease (MND) in this country and there are between 5,000 and 6,000 sufferers of MND in the United Kingdom. Worldwide, the annual incidence of MND is estimated to be 1.5 new cases per 100,000 people. To date, the Ministry of Defence is aware of five veterans of the 1990–91 Gulf conflict who have been diagnosed with motor neurone disease, one of whom died in 1992. The table shows the hospital admission figures for motor neurone disease in 2000–01.
Admissions for motor neurone disease by region of residence, HS hospitals, England 2000–01 Number Regional office Northern and Yorkshire 396 Trent 330 West Midlands 169 North West 320 Eastern 347 London 269 South East 359 South West 259 England (NOS) 1 Scotland 2 Wales 16 Foreign 6 Not known 4 Total 2,514