Pesticides and Parkinson's
Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 7:12AMEvidence linking Parkinson's disease to pesticide exposure is growing stronger, and researchers are now zeroing in on which pesticides pose the greatest risk. This year alone, three separate studies suggested an association between Parkinson's and pesticides. The latest, published in the September 2009 issue of the Archives of Neurology, found that 8.5 percent of 519 Parkinson's patients participating reported exposure to pesticides, compared to 5.3 percent of 511 people who didn't have the disease. Of the eight pesticides the investigators examined, three were linked to a threefold increase in Parkinson's. They were an organic acid (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic), the herbicide paraquat and the insecticide permethrin. Laboratory studies have shown that all three have effects on the brain cells affected by Parkinson's. Earlier this year, a French study reported that farm workers who used insecticides had a two-fold increased risk of Parkinson's, and a study at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center found detectable levels of the pesticide hexachlorocyclohexane (beta-HCH) in 76 percent of Parkinson's test subjects compared with 40 percent of healthy controls and 30 percent of Alzheimer's patients.
Reader Comments (5)
I wonder if there is a similar link to pesticides for essential tremor which is another movement disorder that is not parkinsons but in the same category.
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA326661/why-are-my-hands-shaking.html Is something from Dr. Weil on essential tremor that might be of interest.
Good Question Kaytee8.
I thank you for the infomation, but I am also concerned about carcinogens in beauty products.
I have been trying to use sulfate free products and products that are more natural.
My grandfather died this past year of Parkinson's disease. A life-long textile employee, I have always felt that pesticide exposure (Paraquat) is what caused his illness.
My husband was diagnosed at age 50 with PD. At that time, he was a city employee in a local Sewer Department, working in both storm and sanitary sewers. Could he have been exposed to pesticides or other chemicals which would have caused his Parkinsons's Disease? He had worked in that job for several years before symptoms appeared.