This mushroom could be linked to a mysterious rise in ALS cases

A Cluster of Rare Cases in the French Alps

In the picturesque village of Montchavin, nestled near the ski resort of La Plagne in the Savoy region of France, doctors noticed something deeply concerning. In 2009, a local general practitioner made a chilling observation. For the third time, she was diagnosing a resident with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease or Charcot’s disease?a rare, fatal neurodegenerative disorder.

Alarmed by this unusual pattern, she reached out to ALS specialists, prompting an in-depth investigation. It quickly became apparent that this was no isolated event. Between 1991 and 2013, eleven additional cases surfaced within this tight-knit community?a statistically improbable concentration, especially considering there were no family ties among the affected. The victims, ranging from ages 39 to 75, all knew each other. Some could be described, not entirely facetiously, as typical neighbors in a close Alpine village?sharing recipes, local gossip, and apparently, hazardous meals.

The Search for an Environmental Culprit

Faced with so many cases, the team suspected an environmental factor. Yet, the usual suspects proved innocent after intensive testing:

• Bacterial toxins or lead in the water supply? Negative.
• Radon gas seeping from beneath their homes? Not the source.
• Air or soil pollution from pesticides or heavy metals? Again, nothing.

With the obvious avenues exhausted, the researchers attracted the attention of Peter Spencer, a toxicologist from Oregon Health & Science University in the United States. Spencer had previously investigated a similar ALS outbreak on the Pacific island of Guam. There, a local tradition of eating seeds from the Japanese cycad (also known as “petit rameau” in the Caribbean) turned out to be the common factor behind numerous ALS cases.

In Montchavin, however, this plant was nowhere to be found. Instead, Spencer proposed a new suspect: a common but toxic mushroom known as the giant false morel (Gyromitra gigas). This mushroom, which contains toxins acting in a way similar to those of the cycad seed, is nevertheless sometimes mistaken for edible morels?and, worryingly, had graced local tables more than once.

Case Closed: The Mushroom Link

A study published in the Journal of Neurological Sciences confirmed the link. All fourteen ALS patients in this cluster had indeed eaten the false morel several times in the preceding years, unlike the other residents of the village. Some, used to cooking wild plants and mushrooms, even recalled feeling seriously ill after hearty meals featuring, alongside true morels, the questionable gyromitres. It?s worth noting that selling these false morels has been banned in France since 1991 due to their potential toxicity?clearly for good reason.

Concrete evidence, then: not only did these individuals have a habit that set them apart from their neighbors, but that habit involved a mushroom now known to harbor risk factors eerily similar to those documented on the other side of the globe. In Finland, where this mushroom is considered a delicacy, there?s likewise been a noticeable increase in ALS cases in certain regions. Meanwhile on Guam, after cycads were barred from local cuisine, ALS cases dropped dramatically.

All things considered, it might finally be time to rule false morels off the menu during friendly get-togethers?permanently.