Fwd: How to Avoid Parkinsons Disease

[Guest guest]

" Elaine "

Mon, 18 Aug 2003 23:17:31 -0700

How to Avoid Parkinsons Disease

 

http://www.mercola.com/2003/aug/16/avoid_parkinsons.htm

 

How to Avoid Parkinson’s Disease

 

By Dr. Joseph Mercola

with Rachael Droege

 

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurological disorder in which

neurons in a region of the brain that controls movement

deteriorate. The deterioration of the neurons results in a

shortage of dopamine, a brain-signaling chemical, which

causes problems with movement.

 

It's bad enough that we are using medications to control

Parkinson's, now those who use them need to be concerned

about gambling their life savings away in a real although

rare side effect reported in the current issue of Neurology.

 

PD affects close to 1 million Americans. Symptoms, which

typically progress over time, include tremor (trembling or

shaking), slow movement, rigid limbs, stooped posture, an

inability to move, reduced facial expressions and a

shuffling gait. The condition can also cause depression,

dementia, speech impairments, personality changes and sexual

difficulties.

 

Most patients with PD are treated with drugs that can result

in a range of side effects including:

 

Nausea

Vomiting

Low blood pressure

Jerky movements

Paranoia

Hallucinations

Confusion

 

An inability to sleep

Dry mouth

Constipation

Memory loss

Blurred vision

Skin rash

 

About five to 10 percent of patients with PD are prescribed

antimuscarinic drugs to help control tremors, bladder

problems and depression. According to one study, patients

who had been on these drugs for more than two years had

twice the level of brain protein clumps and tangles, which

are characteristic of Alzheimer’s patients, as patients not

taking the drugs. The finding has raised concern among

scientists that antimuscarinic drugs could increase the risk

of Alzheimer’s disease.

 

Prevention is clearly the best option with Parkinson’s

disease. There are several steps you can take to minimize

your chances of developing the disease.

 

Eat Fresh, Raw Vegetables

 

Studies have found that inadequate amounts of the B vitamin

folate, known as folic acid, may raise the risk of

Parkinson's disease. Fresh, raw vegetables are an excellent

source of folic acid, and it’s easy to incorporate plenty of

veggies into your diet if you try vegetable juicing.

 

Avoid Pesticides and Petrochemical Solvents

 

Exposure to pesticides, insecticides and herbicides have all

been linked to Parkinson’s disease, along with exposure to

common petroleum-based hydrocarbon solvents such as paints

and glues. If you live in an area that is conducting

mosquito fogging for West Nile Virus, be sure to stay

indoors to avoid getting a massive dose of pesticides.

 

When painting rooms in your house, use low-volatile paints

and be sure you keep the windows open and have proper

ventilation.

 

Avoid Excess Iron

 

Eating a diet too high in iron puts you at an increased risk

of developing Parkinson’s disease. While iron is a necessary

part of staying healthy, too much iron can be devastating.

Aside from the excess iron that can result from taking iron

supplements, iron overload, or hemochromatosis, is actually

the most common inherited disease.

 

Iron can contribute to oxidative stress, which results when

cells release toxic substances known as free radicals.

Oxidative stress can contribute to the degeneration of brain

cells found in Parkinson’s disease.

 

Measuring iron levels is a very important part of optimizing

your health, especially for men and postmenopausal women

since excess iron is most common among these groups.

However, simply measuring serum iron is a poor way to do

this because frequently the serum iron will be normal. The

most useful of the indirect measures of iron status in the

body is through a measure of the serum ferritin level in

conjunction with a total iron binding level. Please read my

article “How to Diagnose Iron Overload” for more

information.

 

Avoid Excess Manganese

 

Manganese is similar to iron in that it can be harmful at

excessive levels and can contribute to oxidative stress in

the body. High amounts of manganese down-regulates serotonin

and dopamine and high levels of manganese are often found in

learning disabled or violent individuals. Although it has

the potential to create major problems, the medical

community pays very little attention to manganese toxicity.

 

As I said earlier, prevention is key with Parkinson’s. By

the time someone comes down with the disease, treatment can

become more difficult. While I am not a fan of using

supplements, it appears that CoQ10 may be useful for people

with this disease.

 

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see also: http://www.safe2use.com/health/parkinsons.htm

 

In-Home Pesticide Exposure Increases Parkinson’s Risk

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

SAN DIEGO, CA – Pesticide use and exposure in the home and

garden increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease,

according to a study of almost 500 people newly diagnosed

with the disease. Researchers announced their findings at a

presentation at the American Academy of Neurology’s 52nd

annual meeting in San Diego, CA, April 29 – May 6, 2000.

 

" This study is the largest yet of newly diagnosed

individuals with Parkinson's disease and it is the first

study to show a significant association between home

pesticide use and the risk of developing

 

Parkinson's disease, " said study lead author Lorene Nelson,

PhD, a neuroepidemiologist at Stanford University School of

Medicine. The preliminary results from this study mirror

what is already known about the increased risk of

Parkinson's disease associated with occupational exposure to

pesticides.

 

The researchers questioned 496 people who had been diagnosed

with Parkinson's disease about past use of pesticides. Each

patient was asked if they had used or been exposed to

insecticides in the home or garden, herbicides or weed

killers in the garden, or fungicides to control mold or

mildew in the home or garden. Researchers asked detailed

questions about past pesticide use including first exposures

and frequency of pesticide contact.

 

The Parkinson’s patients’ lifetime histories were then

compared to 541 people without the disease. Researchers

found that people who had been exposed to pesticides were

approximately two times more likely to develop Parkinson's

disease than people not exposed to pesticides.

 

In-home exposure to insecticides carried the highest risk of

developing the disease. Parkinson’s patients were more than

twice as likely to have been exposed to insecticides in the

home than those without the disease. Past exposure to

herbicides was also associated with the disease, whereas

exposure to insecticides in the garden and fungicides were

not found to be risk factors.

 

Damage to nerve cells in a part of the brain called the

substantia nigra leads to the movement difficulties

characteristic of Parkinson's disease. Therefore, people

exposed to chemicals that have a particular affinity for

this region of the brain may be at particular risk for

developing the disease.

 

" Certain chemicals that an individual is exposed to in the

environment may cause selective death of brain cells or

neurons, " stated Nelson. " If we could understand why these

neurons are being killed in certain circumstances, we can

then try and prevent it. "

 

But Nelson cautioned that more studies are needed before any

conclusive statements can be made about the causes of

Parkinson's disease, including any genetic influence on a

person's probability of developing the disease.

 

Nelson also stressed that the results of the study must be

interpreted with caution. " No specific guidelines regarding

avoidance of pesticides can be given at this time but, in

general, this is an area of public health importance that

needs to be pursued, " said Nelson.

 

Parkinson’s disease is a slowly progressive,

neurodegenerative disease that affects more than 500,000

people in the United States. Parkinson’s causes the loss of

dopamine, a chemical in the brain, which results in muscle

stiffness and rigidity, slowness in movement and tremor of

the arms and legs.

 

The National Institutes of Health provided funding for the

study.

 

The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more

than 16,500 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is

dedicated to improving patient care through education and

research. For more information about the American Academy of

Neurology, visit its Web site at http://www.aan.com. For

online neurological health and wellness information, visit

NeuroVista at http://www.aan.com/neurovista.

 

Original Story found at: http://www.aan.com/