Studies line up on Parkinson's and pesticides link

Evidence that pesticides can cause Parkinson's disease is stronger than it has ever been. One study shows that farm workers who used the common weedkiller paraquat had two to three times the normal risk of Parkinson's, a degenerative brain disease that eventually paralyzes patients. A second study shows that animals exposed to paraquat have a build-up of a protein called alpha-synuclein in their brains. This protein has been linked to Parkinson's in the past. A third piece of the puzzle shows that this buildup of protein kills the same brain cells affected in Parkinson's. "All of these pieces really look like they are coming together now," Dr. William Langston, founder of the non-profit Parkinson's Institute, told Reuters. Langston and colleagues said they were energized by research presented at the Parkinson's Disease Environmental Research meeting in Monterey, California. Langston also said inflammation could be a factor. "Give an animal a compound that creates a marked inflammation response in the body ... and months later the animal loses cells in same area of the brain that is associated with Parkinson's. This suggests that systemic inflammation may somehow sensitize the brain."

Courtesy of Reuters

Steve - Bingo! Inflammation...you've have been hearing that word from us incessantly. As we have discused, chemicals, just as food triggers, can create an inflammatory response which sends stressor signals to our genes. For those of us with a genetic predisposition to Parkinson's, if we continually send inflammatory stressor signals to our genes, we will exhibit Parkinson's symptoms.