19
Sep
(Beyond Pesticides, September 19, 2008) Adding to the body of epidemiologic evidence linking pesticides to Parkinson’s Disease (PD), a recent study shows a correlation between 100 PD patients and the use of the pesticide rotenone. The study was conducted by physicians and researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler (UTHSCT) and an East Texas Medical Center physician.The study’s lead author is Aman Dhillon, MD, MS, assistant professor of occupational and environmental medicine at UTHSCT. Rotenone is highly toxic to fish and insects, but mildly toxic to warm-blooded animals and humans. It is made from the roots of tropical plants and is used in home gardens and in fisheries management to remove unwanted fish species, said Jeffrey Levin, MD, MSPH, chair of UTHSCT’s Department of Occupational Health Sciences. Dr. Levin is a co-author of the study, published recently in the peer-reviewed Journal of Agromedicine. A total of 184 people participated in the study: 100 had Parkinson’s disease and 84 did not, though they had other neurological disorders. All were patients of George M. Plotkin, MD, Ph.D., a neurologist with a special interest in Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Plotkin, medical director of the ETMC Movement Disorder Center, treats about […]
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31
Mar
(Beyond Pesticides, March 31, 2008) Researchers studying related individuals who share environmental and genetic backgrounds find an association between pesticide use and Parkinson’s disease. The strongest links were between the disorder and use of herbicides and insecticides, such as organochlorines and organophosphates. The study, “Pesticide exposure and risk of Parkinson’s disease: a family-based case-control study,” was published March 28 online in the journal BMC Neurology. The research team from Duke University Medical Center and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Morris K. Udall Parkinson Disease Research Center of Excellence recruited 319 patients and over 200 relatives. They used telephone interviews to obtain histories of pesticide exposure, living or working on a farm, and well-water drinking. No association was found between Parkinson’s disease and well-water drinking or living or working on a farm, which are two commonly used proxies for pesticide exposures. Parkinson’s disease is a common neurological disorder affecting about 1 million people in the U.S. The disorder typically develops in later life resulting in symptoms such as tremors and muscle rigidity. Although variations in several genes have been identified that contribute to the disease, these rare genetic defects account for a small proportion of the overall prevalence […]
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