Pesticides 'up Parkinson's risk'

[Guest guest]

Pesticides 'up Parkinson's risk'

 

BBC

Wednesday May 30, 2007

 

Exposure to pesticides could lead to an increased risk of contracting

Parkinson's disease, a study has found.

 

Researchers discovered that high levels of exposure increased the risk

by 39%, while even low levels raised it by 9%.

 

However, the Aberdeen University researchers stressed that the overall

risk of developing the disease remained small.

 

In the UK, one person in 500 develops the incurable degenerative brain

disease, or a similar illness.

 

Symptoms often include unsteadiness and tremor in the hands or arms,

often alongside difficulties with speech or movement.

 

Other studies have pointed strongly towards exposure to pesticides

being involved in some cases, with agricultural workers showing higher

rates of the illness.

 

Knocked out

 

The Aberdeen study, reported in the journal Occupational and

Environmental Medicine, involved 959 cases of parkinsonism, a term

used to describe people with diagnoses of Parkinson's Disease, and

other, similar conditions.

 

They all answered questioned about their lifetime occupational and

recreational exposure to a variety of chemicals, including solvents,

pesticides, iron, copper and manganese.

 

Some have suggested that the head injuries involved in boxing could be

linked to Parkinson's, so the patients were also asked whether they

had ever been knocked unconscious.

 

The study included more general questions about family health history

and tobacco use.

 

All the replies were then compared to those from a group of people of

similar age and sex who had not been diagnosed with Parkinson's.

 

They revealed that while having a family history of Parkinson's was

the clearest risk factor for developing the disease, exposure to

pesticides also gave a clear increase.

 

People who had been knocked out once were 35% more at risk, while

being knocked out on more than one occasion appeared to increase the

risk by two-and-a-half times.

 

However, the researchers acknowledged that it was impossible to tell

from the results whether the patients had been knocked out after

falling as a result of their Parkinson's.

 

Dr Finlay Dick, the lead researcher, said: " What we have shown in the

study is that with increasing risk to exposure to pesticides, the risk

of Parkinson's Disease increases.

 

" This doesn't prove that pesticides cause Parkinson's Disease - but

does add to the weight of evidence of an association. "

 

'Unsurprising'

 

A spokesman for the Parkinson's Disease Society echoed this: " The

important finding from this study is confirmation that Parkinson's is

not caused by any one factor, but instead a combination of genetic

susceptibility and environmental factors. "

 

Georgina Downs, from the UK Pesticides Campaign, which represents

people in rural communities, said: " Considering many pesticides are

neurotoxic, then it isn't surprising that study after study has found

associations with various chronic neurological and neurodegenerative

diseases such as Parkinson's.

 

" This is highly significant in relation to the long-term exposure of

rural residents and communities living near sprayed fields. "