The Rise Of Parkinsons Disease
Neurological disorders are the worlds leading cause of disability. And the fastest growing of these conditions is not Alzheimers but Parkinsons disease.
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- The number of people with Parkinsons disease more than doubled from 1990 to 2015 and could double again by 2040. An aging population alone does not account for this rise.
- Air pollution, metal production, certain industrial chemicals, and some synthetic pesticides are linked to Parkinsons. Yet we are doing little to manage known risk factors.
- The authors contend that the United States should ban trichloroethylene, paraquat, and other chemicals linked to Parkinsons, which many other countries have already done.
From 1990 to 2015, the number of people living with Parkinsons more than doubled from 2.6 million to 6.3 million, according to a 2015 study in Lancet Neurology. By 2040, the number is projected to double again to at least 12.9 million, a stunning rise .
The number of people with Parkinsons disease more than doubled between 1990 and 2015 and is projected to double again by 2040.
Figure adapted from E. R. Dorsey and B. R. Bloem, 2018.
Figure adapted from R. Dorsey et al., 2020.
The number of people who succumb to Parkinsons each year has been increasing steadily.
Data from: U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, Mortality Data.
Christophe Vander Eecken / Reporters / Science Source
Data Synthesis And Statistical Analysis
Meta-analysis of results will be considered by investigating heterogeneity among animal and human studies, separately. It is common, though, that environmental health studies have some differences regarding outcome assessments and exposure definitions that could be an obstacle to formal statistical meta-analysis . The heterogeneity associated with pooled effect estimates will be assessed with the use of a 2 test and the I2 statistic . Heterogeneity will be classified as follows: 0 to 40% 30 to 60% 50 to 90% and 75 to 100% .
Statistical analysis will be conducted using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis STATA software . If considerable heterogeneity is detected among studies, meta-analysis will not be indicated and results will only be presented in tables or in a narrative synthesis. However, if heterogeneity does not exceed 75%, we will use random effects meta-analysis , which is a more conservative approach of pooling the results. In this case, the measure of association will be presented as odds ratios and mean difference, both with a 95% confidence interval , for studies with dichotomous and continuous data, respectively .
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If you have questions about whether roundup caused your Parkinsons Disease, call us for a free initial consultation and explanation of your legal rights.
The attorneys at Herrman & Herrman P.L.L.C. offer more than 100 years of legal experience in representing people who have been harmed by unsafe products. Our legal team is ready to fight hard for the full compensation that you will need after a Parkinsons Disease diagnosis.
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What Conclusions Did You Draw
We have shown that Drosophila provide a valuable model that may be used to assess the effects of other environmental contaminants besides paraquat. Drosophila provide an intermediate model between cell culture and the use of rodents. Because of its short life span, the fruit fly is easy to understand, but its nervous system is nevertheless complex. Experiments with these insects pose less of an ethical challenge than working with rats or mice in the context of regulatory assessments of plant protection compounds and products.
Pesticides And Parkinsons Disease: The Toxic Effects Of Pesticides On The Brain
A study by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, finds Parkinsons Disease risk increases with elevated levels of organochlorine and organophosphate pesticides in blood. Among patients with PD, specific organochlorine compounds have greater associations with cognitive impairments, including depression and brain function. Research finds exposure to chemical toxicants, like pesticides, can cause neurotoxic effects or exacerbate preexisting chemical damage to the nervous system. Although the mechanism by which pesticides induce disease development remains unclear, researchers suggest changes in protein enzyme composition and cellular dysfunction from pesticide exposure interrupt normal brain function.
Concentrations of organochlorine pesticides are higher among patients with PD compared to healthy patients. Of the organochlorines, -HCH and propanil concentrations have the greatest association with PD risk through increasing reactive oxygen species levels and decreasing mitochondrial membrane function in SH-SY5Y cells. However, only propanil induced accumulation of -synuclein, a predominant protein in the brain tissue of PD patients. Lastly, using the Hamilton Depression Scale and Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores, researchers discover PD patients have higher depression scores and lower cognitive function.
All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.
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Benomyl Blocks Brain Cell Processes
Meanwhile, researchers from UCLAs David Geffen School of Medicine found that the fungicide Benomyl will block multiple cell processes. One of these blocks the production of aldehyde dehydrogenase .
ALDH increases the dopamine metabolite 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde, which produces degeneration among neurons associated with the production of dopamine. One of the central dopamine-producing centers exists in the brain the substantia nigra located within the midbrain.
When the nerve cells located in this region die off or become otherwise deranged, they stop producing dopamine and other neurotransmitters that help control coordination and movement throughout the body. A lack of these neurotransmitters will produce the shakiness and eventual loss of coordination characteristic amongst progressed Parkinsons patients.
What Should People With Parkinsons Know About Paraquat
Paraquat is an herbicide that has been linked to Parkinsons. It is a widely used commercial herbicide in the U.S. that is banned in 32 countries, including the European Union and China. In fact, paraquat along with another pesticide, rotenone, is routinely used in research as one of the ways to induce and study parkinsonism in animal models of PD.
The Parkinsons Foundation, along with the Unified Parkinsons Advocacy Council, signed two letters to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency encouraging them to cancel the registration of paraquat based on strong scientific research linking the herbicide to Parkinsons disease.
In October 2020, the EPA re-approved paraquat for use in the U.S. Without additional action, paraquat will remain legal for sale and use in the U.S. for the next 15 years.
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Ascertainment Of Use Of Pesticides
Each subject was asked to complete a self administered questionnaire which included detailed questions about the subject’s use of pesticides throughout his working career. Subjects were asked to provide information on years of farming or employment involving pesticides, and for discrete periods: crops grown number of acres of each crop use of specific insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides target crops for each pesticide used typical methods of application and use of protective clothes and equipment. Most of this information was collected by calendar decade use of specific pesticides was collected by 5 year period as far back as 1960, and open ended before then. Subjects were also asked to report any pesticides not included in the list provided. Demographic information, including age, race, health conditions, use of medications, history of alcohol consumption, and history of smoking were collected. An interviewer administered the questionnaire to the few subjects who were unable to read it for any reason. Thirteen subjects provided insufficient information with which to assess their histories of exposure to pesticides thus, a total of 310 subjects were included in the following analyses.
Do Pesticides Cause Parkinsons
I recently heard that pesticides cause Parkinsons disease. If this is true, can you tell me whether buying organic fruits and vegetables provides adequate protection? My mother had Parkinsons so I worry about this disease a lot.
Andrew Weil, M.D. | August 30, 2013
Parkinsons disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder worldwide behind Alzheimers disease. Parkinsons affects nerve cells in the part of the mid-brain known as the substantia nigra, responsible for muscle movement. Symptoms include tremors, rigidity, slow movements and balance problems that worsen over time. Parkinson patients often exhibit signs of depression and may eventually develop cognitive problems, including dementia. But although PD may result in disability, the disease often moves slowly, and most people have a number of years of only minor disability following a diagnosis.
For some time, experts have believed that unusual exposure to herbicides and pesticides increase the risk of developing Parkinsons disease. The latest word on this subject comes from Italian researchers who reviewed 104 studies from around the world and concluded that exposure to pesticides, bug and weed killers and solvents appears to be associated with a 33 to 80 percent increase in the risk of developing PD. The investigators also reported that in controlled studies, exposure to specific chemical compounds including paraquat, a weed killer, and two fungicides, maneb and mancozeb, doubled the risk.
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Researchers Think These Factors May Be Linked To Parkinsons
Dorsey and others called for a shift in current funding for biomedical research from treatment to prevention, and for further advocacy. The new policies should seek to reduce the prevalence of chemical exposure, among other goals, and mimic the efforts of smoking prevention campaigns, which have led to a steep drop in lung cancer.
If we care, we can prevent millions of people from ever developing these debilitating and deadly diseases, Dorsey said. If we educate the communities were supposed to serve, we can have them be mobilized and change the course of all these diseases.
Its a daunting task, said Walter J. Koroshetz, MD, director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and co-moderator of the symposium, but I think its time to start now.
He said the institute has launched an office for exposome research, which will be conducted in close collaboration with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
These cumulative exposures are an existential threat in our modern environment, and we as neurologists and neuroscientist must focus our attention on this under-recognized and growing issue, said Frances E. Jensen, MD, president of the American Neurological Association, and chair of the symposium.
The Link Between Parkinsons Disease And Toxic Chemicals
A new book calls the increasing prominence of Parkinsons a man-made pandemic.
Michael Richard Clifford, a 66-year-old retired astronaut living in Cary, N.C., learned before his third spaceflight that he had Parkinsons disease. He was only 44 and in excellent health at the time, and had no family history of this disabling neurological disorder.
What he did have was years of exposure to numerous toxic chemicals, several of which have since been shown in animal studies to cause the kind of brain damage and symptoms that afflict people with Parkinsons.
As a youngster, Mr. Clifford said, he worked in a gas station using degreasers to clean car engines. He also worked on a farm where he used pesticides and in fields where DDT was sprayed. Then, as an aviator, he cleaned engines readying them for test flights. But at none of these jobs was he protected from exposure to hazardous chemicals that are readily inhaled or absorbed through the skin.
Now Mr. Clifford, a lifelong nonsmoker, believes that his close contact with these various substances explains why he developed Parkinsons disease at such a young age. Several of the chemicals have strong links to Parkinsons, and a growing body of evidence suggests that exposure to them may very well account for the dramatic rise in the diagnosis of Parkinsons in recent decades.
Sometimes, though, the links are so strong and the evidence so compelling that there can be little doubt that one causes the other.
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Seeking Legal Help For Parkinsons Compensation
You could hire a personal injury attorney to seek awards if you developed Parkinsons due to firsthand or secondhand exposure to harmful environmental factors at your job or another site. Our attorneys can help you seek compensation that helps pay your current and future medical expenses. This includes the medication and equipment you need to manage your illness.
You could also recover awards for lost income and benefits if you had to take another job or stop working. You could also request compensation for pain and suffering, inconvenience, reduced quality of life, lost companionship, and more. Our attorneys can help you gather evidence, build your compensation case, and hold the liable party accountable for your losses.
So How Worried Should We Be About Pesticides
Long term exposure to pesticides may increase risk of Parkinsons, but you might still be wondering by how much. Often factors that increase risk are presented as a percentage or a fold increase, for instance in this post we quote research that suggests the risk of Parkinsons with environmental exposure to pesticides is increase by at least 50%. But what does that mean in real terms?
Working these statistics out is complex and requires a large amount of data and specialist skills, but for the purpose of understanding how much a 50% increase in risk really matters, I am going to do something a lot simpler.
Well if we use the latest stats that lifetime risk of Parkinsons is around 1 in 37, a 50% increase would put this number at 1.5 in 37, or around 1 in 25. So still, with exposure to pesticides, risk of Parkinson’s is relatively low.
We are still learning about how environmental factors affect all aspects of our health, but research like this plays a powerful role in making our environment safer and also improving our understanding of what is happening in conditions like Parkinsons so we can develop new and better treatments.
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What Are The Common Transcriptome Responses Observed With Pd
Our next objective was to determine which transcripts are those most likely regulated by these specific PD-associated chemicals. We extracted data from the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database to compile information on gene expression responses for each of the pesticides. The language of CTD is a structured hierarchical vocabulary that describes relationships among chemicals, genes, and proteins based upon interaction data . Examples of pesticides associated with PD, based upon expression data evidence in the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database is presented in Table 3. The inference score reflects the degree of similarity between CTD chemicalgenedisease networks and a higher score indicates a higher likelihood of interconnectivity among entities. Rotenone, not surprising as a mitochondrial toxicant, was ranked 5th of all chemicals, based upon molecular data associating this chemical to PD. Transcriptome profiles generated by rotenone were strongly associated with those observed in studies of PD. As expected, paraquat and maneb were also associated with PD based upon toxicogenomics responses. The table also depicts other pesticides such as permethrin, a pyrethroid insecticide, and chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate pesticide that have suggested links to Parkinson’s disease.
Table 3. Examples of pesticides associated with Parkinson’s disease , based upon expression data from chemicals in the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database .
No One Definitive Cause Of Parkinsons
There are no biomarkers or objective screening tests that indicate one has Parkinsons. That said, medical experts have shown that a constellation of factors are linked to it.
Parkinsons causes are likely a blend of genetics and environmental or other unknown factors. About 10 to 20 percent of Parkinsons disease cases are linked to a genetic cause, says Ted Dawson, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Institute for Cell Engineering at Johns Hopkins. The types are either autosomal dominant or autosomal recessive .
But that leaves the majority of Parkinsons cases as idiopathic, which means unknown. We think its probably a combination of environmental exposure to toxins or pesticides and your genetic makeup, says Dawson.
Age. The biggest risk factor for developing Parkinsons is advancing age. The average age of onset is 60.
Gender. Men are more likely to develop Parkinsons disease than women.
Genetics. Individuals with a parent or sibling who is affected have approximately two times the chance of developing Parkinsons. Theres been an enormous amount of new information about genetics and new genes identified over the past 10 or 15 years that have opened up a greater understanding of the disease, says Dawson.
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American Farmers Pursue Syngenta Over Herbicides Link To Parkinsons Disease
The Swiss-based multinational has already set aside $187.5 million to settle legal cases filed by farmers exposed to paraquat. But the total bill could run into billions as lawsuits pile up.
Swissinfo.ch’s India specialist covers a wide range of issues from bilateral relations to Bollywood. He also knows a thing or two about Swiss watchmaking and is partial to the French-speaking part of Switzerland.
American farmer Doug Holliday has helped feed the nation for decades, growing corn and soybeans and raising cattle on thousands of acres of land outside Greenfield, a rural city of some 2,000 people in the midwestern state of Iowa.
He has joined hundreds of farmers across the United States who have filed product liability lawsuits against the company over its failure to warn them that its top-selling herbicide, paraquat, is linked to serious health problems including Parkinsons disease. Farmers exposed to the toxic chemical, including many who have already developed the debilitating and incurable brain disorder, are also seeking financial compensation for non-economic and economic losses such as medical costs and loss of income.
Not knowing any of this I used paraquat and sprayed it myself on a large farm in the 1990s, Holliday told SWI swissinfo.ch in a telephone interview. I physically handled it and had to pour it multiple times into the sprayer as it was only sold in 2.5-gallon jugs.
Pesticide Residues For The Rest Of Us
As for those of us not handling pesticides on the job or at home, pesticide residues are found on a majority of commercially grown foods. In a review of the research by Cornell Universitys Dr. David Pimentel, 73% to 90% of conventional fruits and vegetables contain pesticide residues, with at least 5% of those pesticide levels above FDA tolerance amounts.
While the cost of organic foods might be a tad higher in the store, the price paid in the long run for pesticides in terms of liver disorders and nervous disorders such as Parkinsons as well as environmental damage to our bees, waterways and soils makes the real price for organic foods much more competitive to conventional, pesticide- and herbicide-laden foods.
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