Cohort baseline demographic and metabolic data
| Entire cohort | ALS | ALS >5 years from enrolment | P value | |
| n | 502 409 | 343 | 192 | – |
| Age, median (IQR) | 58 (50–63) | 62 (57–66) | 62 (56.75–66) | <0.001† |
| Age at ALS diagnosis, median (IQR) (years) | – | 67.36 (61.71–70.95) | 69.17 (63.33–72.35) | – |
| Latency from enrolment to diagnosis, median (IQR) (days) | – | 1986 (1203.5–2444) | 2390 (2153–2654) | – |
| Latency from diagnosis to death, median(95% CI) (days) | – | 445 (401 to 542) | 508 (401 to 691) | – |
| % ALS diagnoses from death certificate (n) | – | 10 (35) | 14 (26) | – |
| Female participants (%) | 273 348 (54.4) | 149 (43.4) | 84 (43.8) | <0.001* |
| Follow-up, median (IQR) (days) | 4334 (4072–4593) | 2491 (1705–3452) | 2949 (2499–3882) | – |
| Total cholesterol, median (IQR) (mmol/L) | 5.65 (4.91–6.42) | 5.64 (4.85–6.44) | 5.81 (4.96–6.53) | 0.760† |
| LDL cholesterol, median (IQR) (mmol/L) | 3.52 (2.94–4.12) | 3.54 (2.94–4.08) | 3.65 (3–4.12) | 0.860† |
| HDL cholesterol, median (IQR) (mmol/L) | 1.40 (1.17–1.67) | 1.30 (1.1–1.58) | 1.29 (1.12–1.55) | <0.001† |
| Total cholesterol:HDL ratio, median (IQR) | 3.97 (3.3–4.81) | 4.09 (3.43–5.05) | 4.19 (3.53–5.05) | 0.007† |
| Apolipoprotein A, median (IQR) (g/L) | 1.51 (1.35–1.7) | 1.46 (1.29–1.65) | 1.46 (1.3–1.63) | 0.002† |
| Apolipoprotein B, median (IQR) (g/L) | 1.02 (0.86–1.18) | 1.03 (0.84–1.18) | 1.05 (0.89–1.2) | 0.902† |
| Glycated haemoglobin HbA1c, median (IQR) (mmol/mol) | 35.2 (32.8–37.9) | 35.7 (33.6–38.5) | 35.5 (33.4–37.77) | 0.022† |
| Triglycerides, median (IQR) (mmol/L) | 1.48 (1.05–2.15) | 1.67 (1.18–2.27) | 1.68 (1.22–2.23) | <0.001† |
| Serum creatinine, median (IQR) (µmol/L) | 70.4 (61.4–80.9) | 71.4 (62.6–81.88) | 72.4 (63.38–81.58) | 0.106 |
| Excess MET, median (IQR) (hours/week) | 23.14 (10.64–46.15) | 20.38 (8.45–45.53) | 21.46 (10.11–46.25) | 0.099† |
| BMI, median (IQR) (kg/m2) | 26.74 (24.14–29.91) | 27.19 (24.64–30.01) | 27.01 (24.78–29.66) | 0.111† |
Median latency from ALS to diagnosis to death calculated from the Kaplan–Meier survival curve, excluding those in whom the diagnosis is based only on death certificate.
P values indicated for all ALS vs all non-ALS.
*Fisher’s exact test.
†Mann–Whitney U test.
ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; BMI, body mass index; HbA1c, glycated haemoglobin A1c; HDL, high density lipoprotein; LDL, low density lipoprotein; MET, metabolic equivalent task.