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 15 May 2008 22:09 BST

Parkinson's disease linked to pesticide exposure

Friday, 28 Mar 2008 16:47
Exposure to pesticides increases people's risk of Parkinson's disease, report suggests

Health In Focus 

Exposure to pesticides increases people's risk of Parkinson's disease, according to a new study.

The US researchers say people with direct exposure to pesticides were 1.6 times more likely to suffer from Parkinson's.

The strongest association between the disease and pesticides involved the use of herbicides and insecticides, such as organochlorides and organophosphates.

Writing in the journal BMC Neurology, the researchers say their study is the first to show a connection between Parkinson's and exposure to pesticides in patients compared with their unaffected relatives.

They studied 319 patients and over 200 relatives. Telephone interviews were used 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.

"Previous studies have shown that individuals with Parkinson's disease are over twice as likely to report being exposed to pesticides as unaffected individuals," said the study's lead author Dana Hancock.

"But few studies have looked at this association in people from the same family or have assessed associations between specific classes of pesticides and Parkinson's disease."

She added that biological evidence is "insufficient to conclude that pesticide exposure causes Parkinson's disease" but added: "Further investigation of these specific pesticides and others may lead to identification of pertinent biological pathways influencing PD development."
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