FRIDAY, March 28 (HealthDay News) -- Parkinson%26#39;s disease has been
linked to exposure to pesticides in a new study comparing people with the
neurological disorder and their unaffected relatives.
The study, published online in the open-access journal BMC
Neurology, found the strongest ties to the use of herbicides and
insecticides, such as organochlorides and organophosphates. Drinking well
water or living or working on a farm, two common experiences for pesticide
exposures, did not appear to be associated with Parkinson%26#39;s.
Many Parkinson%26#39;s disease cases are thought to be due to an interaction
between genetic and environmental factors. By studying related individuals
who share environmental and genetic backgrounds, researchers said they
could identify specific differences in exposures between individuals with
and without the disease.
"Previous studies have shown that individuals with Parkinson%26#39;s disease
are over twice as likely to report being exposed to pesticides as
unaffected individuals, but few studies have looked at this association in
people from the same family or have assessed associations between specific
classes of pesticides and Parkinson%26#39;s disease," study author Dana Hancock
said in a prepared statement.
Researchers from both Duke University Medical Center and the University
of Miami Miller School of Medicine interviewed 319 Parkinson%26#39;s patients
and more than 200 of their relatives to get details about whether they
ever were exposed to pesticides, lived or worked on a farm, or drank water
from wells.
Parkinson%26#39;s disease, which affects about 1 million people in the United
States, is characterized by symptoms such as tremors and muscle rigidity.
Several gene variations have been tagged as contributing to the disease,
but these rare defects account for a small proportion of those affected by
disorder.
While several other studies have supported pesticides as a risk factor
for Parkinson%26#39;s, "biological evidence is presently insufficient to
conclude that pesticide exposure causes PD," Hancock said.
"Further investigation of these specific pesticides and others may lead
to identification of pertinent biological pathways influencing PD
development," he said.
More information
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has more about pesticide safety.
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