Environmental risk factors for Parkinson’s disease

[Melissa]

Welcome everyone to this hot topic. Please post your questions and comments here and we will forward them to the presenter. Check back for your response!

• This reply was modified 7 months, 3 weeks ago by  Melissa McConaghy.

[John]

Just watched your presentation. I was diagnosed with PD 4 years ago.

We had a holiday home in France for 30 years and spent 2/3 months/year there. It was in the countrywide and I mixed copious amounts of Paraquat based weedkiller which I sprayed on the gravel drive, sides of the lane and under hedges etc. The spraying could last for a couple of hours and I rarely used a mask. Just before I was diagnosed I had a very traumatic episode whilst a tooth was being extracted. I was in the dentist chair for 90 minutes and the tooth broke several times and my gum was injected with painkillers at least 8 times. When I eventually left the chair I was shaking and this lasted for 2/3 hours. I would rate it as the most upsetting medical experience in my life and I was 77 at the time. li believe that I was damaged by the weed spraying over many years and that the tooth episode may have acted as a trigger to accelerate the PD symptoms. Does that sound feasible to you?

Regards, John Brotherton

[Peter]

Great overview

[Harley]

Thanks Briana for a clear synopsis of the environmental factors. It’s encouraging to see this as the upfront presentation at Insight. It must be the first time that prevention has rated so highly. Recently the Canadian Parkinson’s ran a conference on PD and the environment and I’ve sought to access this information. Do you have a contact? DId you present?

[Briana]

I wasn’t involved in that meeting, I’m sorry to say. Sounds really interesting though, maybe someone else has information they can chime in with!

[Geoff]

Has there been any investigation into the effects of mRNA injections on PD?

[Tamara]

Thank you Dr. Miranda for sharing such valuable information.👏

[Chris]

When I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s we used to spray DDT for flies & mosquitos and DDT powder for fleas & ticks on our dog & cat. Is DDT a contributor to Parkinson’s?

Regards,

Chris Harvey

[Briana]

DDT is a type of organochlorine pesticide, and organochlorine exposures were linked to PD risk in a few epidemiological studies (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18373838/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7517654/) however, the amount of exposure to these chemicals could be important (e.g., commercial pesticide applicator vs consumer use).

[Tiana]

Thanks Miranda for explaining why causation of PD is such a complex area. I recall hearing about a study where a mathematical risk factor model was applied to PD risk, and the outcome showed that a person needed to accumulate something like 5 to 8 ‘exposures’ to develop PD symptoms. So I think the concept of the ‘exposome’ really helps to explain the complexity and variation in PD development. Thank you for your talk.

Best wishes,

Tiana

[Sheryl]

Very interesting, thank you Melissa

[Mavis]

Thank you for the presentation? Are there any diagnostic tests to determine how much exposure to pesticides and heavy metals someone might have had?

[Briana]

While tests do exist to measure pesticide metabolites in biological samples, these tests mostly work for what a person is exposed to at that precise moment in time (or perhaps a few days or weeks prior). Metals can be measured on a bit longer time frame depending on the biological sample. These types of tests wouldn’t normally be performed unless toxicity is suspected or if they are being used for an epidemiological study.

[Shane]

Is there any on-going research as to why people who smoke are less likely to develop PD? I know that cigarette smoking involves the inhalation of a vast number of chemicals. Presumably one or a combination of a number of these has this dampening effect on PD (I know they have other negative health effects). Also how bib a factor on PD is smoking (e.g. a 25% reduction for 10 cigarettes a day smoker) and does smoking retard the progress, as opposed to the initiation, of PD?

[Briana]

There are some ongoing studies to assess the relationship between smoking and PD risk, though it’s still not completely clear what causes decreased risk in smokers. An interesting review on tobacco, coffee, and PD can be found here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1125458/

[Elaine]

Thank you. Excellent presentation.

[Julie]

Great presentation. Thank you.

[Alan]

Interesting presentation. Just curious about any links to light metals exposure such as alumina and lithium? I have seen some articles linking light metals, potentially, to brain damage more particularly to alzheimers, but also PD. Thanks.

[Briana]

There is some ongoing debate about whether aluminum can cause neurologic disease, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6040147/

[melissa]

Thank you for a really engaging talk and such a clear synopsis of the research. Can I ask if you have any reference list for the papers you mention? Apologies if I’ve missed it on the website.

Thanks again- I really enjoyed this talk.

Mel

[Briana]

Of course, here are the PubMed links to some of papers that I mentioned: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34719434/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35829770/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23150532/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34293396/

[Juliet]

I have a patient who insists that her PD is caused by inhalation of mould spores. There is some info online about it and she has had “experts” come to her house and measure mould levels in her flat (which are high). Is there any properly researched information around the influence of mould on the development of PD? Thanks.