By Dave Davis
For Variety

MEDIA hype generated the usual ‘blame the Yankee military’ fervor recently when a University of Guam professor claimed censorship of his alleged ‘expose’ on the causes of Lytico-bodig, a neurological disease that showed a dramatic upsurge in the Guam Chamorro population beginning sometime in the 1940s. The afflicted exhibit the progressive paralysis of Lou Gehrig’s disease, the tremors of Parkinson’s, and the forgetfulness of dementia. Guam cases are especially significant and interesting to researchers because the incidence here — in as much as 10 percent of the population — was once 50 to 100 times higher than anywhere else on the planet.
The Guam disease has been exhaustively researched over the past 60 years, theories about its cause and origin are nearly as numerous as the researchers, and it’s widely believed among scientists that unlocking the mystery of the Guam cases could be crucial to understanding Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease.
A yet-unpublished research project and scientific paper by UOG professor Louis Szyfres reportedly claims links between lytico-bodig and toxic metals; a claim immediately seized upon by local activists, quick to blame everything from gout to ingrown toenails on the U.S. military. Guam neurologist John Steele has studied the disease in Guam for more than 20 years. He voiced support for professor Szyfres’ diligence in research, without actually buying into the toxic-metals scenario.
Over 60 or more years, various studies have tried to establish provable relationships between the Guam disease and various causes, without much success. Some studies indicate a genetic origin, but there are puzzling anomalies. Other studies have suggested viral, bacterial or fungal causes, with similar lack of hard factual evidence. One of the more intriguing factors, recognized in all the studies, is the timeline — a sharp upturn in incidence of the disease sometime in the 1940s, with a sharp decline 40 to 50 years later. This would tend to support claims of those who believe military activity may be to blame — it was during and following World War II that Guam experienced the beginnings of a heavy military buildup. There are problems with that theory as well, mostly having to do with the fact that the military is still very much in evidence here but lytico-bodig is disappearing as a major health factor.
Dr. Douglas Galasko of the Micronesian Health and Aging Studies Institute at UOG rejects Szyfres’ toxic metals theory. He cites a careful and detailed 1995 Mayo Clinic study of lytico-bodig-afflicted Chamorros, including meticulous analyses of brain tissues, which found no metals-related abnormalities. Some scientists have blamed naturally occurring toxins in the seeds of indigenous cycad plants, once used extensively for food by Chamorros. That connection was first suggested in an 1875 history book by Spanish military officer Philipe de la Corte, in which he recommended that the local population be prohibited from eating the toxic seeds of the ‘fadang’ plant. The fadang theory eventually faded because the toxic cycad compounds are assimilated in relatively low doses — far below concentrations needed to cause the lytico-bodig symptoms.
Recently, however, the cycad has again risen to the top of the suspect list, with a twist. Fruit bats, traditionally considered culinary delicacies in early Guam, are still so regarded by many Chamorros. Newer studies show that those once-prolific indigenous fruit bats, also connoisseurs of the cycad seed, can carry in their tissue toxin concentrations of up to 10,000 times that accumulated by humans.
My best guess is that early Chamorros caught and ate the toxic bats when they could, with relatively low success levels and little health impact. During the period of Japanese occupation, from 1941 to 1944, fadang use increased significantly among Chamorros due to the limited food supply. That increase in consumption was synergistically augmented by a surge in U.S. military presence and more ready access to firearms. Bat hunting and eating became more common, and so did lytico-bodig. As soon as the bats were hunted to near-extinction (surviving now only in a small protected colony on Andersen AFB), new cases of the disease became extremely rare, which is the situation today.
Why don’t bats now imported from other islands for fiestas and such cause the disease? Because the bats may not have access to cycads, and if they do, the cycads don’t have access to an exotic toxin-creating soil bacteria found only in Guam. Eat hamburgers — maybe also toxic, but not likely to give you lytico-bodig.