Parkinsons: Parkinson ' s Disease and et Al Essay

Submitted By casscat
Words: 744
Pages: 3

Parkinson's Disease has no relation to neither creed nor race (Lees et al. 2009). The definite cause of Parkinson's remains as elusive as it did when first diagnosed in 1817(Lees et al. 2009). In spite of the elusive nature of Parkinson's, significant pathological and genetic clues have been found (Lees et al. 2009). Parkinson's is now regarded as a sporadic disorder, meaning that it is not inherited, but arises via mutation in single and scattered cases (Lees et al. 2009). Most sporadic disorders have a significant amount of environmental causes or trigger, however, only a handful have been associated with reported cases of Parkinson's Disease (Lees et al. 2009). Parkinson's, much like dementia, is a neurodegenerative disease (Lees et al. 2009). For all neurodegenerative diseases, ageing is a major risk factor, although 10% of those with Parkinson's are below 45 years of age (Lees et al. 2009). Interestingly, those who have never smoked tobacco are twice as likely to develop Parkinson's as well as men and postmenopausal women who are not taking hormone replacements (Ascherio et al. 2003). Those who do not ingest or take very low quantities of caffeine, have an increased risk of developing Parkinson's Disease (Ascherio et al. 2003). This could be related to the role of dopamine in reward pathways rather than to any neuroprotective effect of tobacco or caffeine (Evans et al. 2006). Caffeine is an adenosine A2 receptor antagonist, other compounds in this class have shown potential as anti-parkinsonian drugs or methods of preventative intervention (Evans et al. 2006). Contrary to popular belief, there are very weak associations with head injury, lack of exercise, and rural living affiliated with Parkinson's Disease (Evans et al. 2006). There have been advancements in drawing a link between certain pesticides and Parkinson's (Elbaz et al. 2009). A current study used scientific methods to find correlations between different classes of pesticides and Parkinson's Disease (PD) (Elbaz et al. 2009). The experiment was conducted in France and consisted of two main groups; those with PD and those without (Elbaz et al. 2009). Of those two groups, there were multiple subgroups dependant on the participant's history and affiliation with herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides (each subgroup acted as a classification for other pesticides found within them) (Elbaz et al. 2009). After rigorous amounts of testing, surveys, and background checks, it was found that a dose-effect relationship could be found most often in men with older onset Parkinson's (Elbaz et al. 2009). It was also noted that the relationship between herbicides or fungicides and PD was not significant (Elbaz et al. 2009). Organochlorines (form of insecticide), were the only pesticide to remain associated with PD in men overall and in men with older onset Parkinson's Disease, after adjusting for other pesticide families in multivariate analyses (Elbaz et al. 2009). The scientists went on to conclude that professional pesticide use, in a population with high exposure, was associated with PD and that these finding could lead to further toxicological studies as the findings of this study dealt exclusively with professional exposure (Elbaz