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Query: UMLS:C0030567 (Parkinson's disease)
 63,064 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

While the cause of Parkinson's disease (PD) remains unknown, recent evidence suggests that certain external factors, ie, environmental agents, may act as neurotoxins, initiating the chain of oxidative reactions that ultimately destroy neurons in the substantia nigra. Young-onset PD might result from greater exposure to a putative neurotoxin. This hypothesis has rekindled interest in the epidemiology of PD. We therefore conducted a detailed analysis of various environmental exposures and early life experiences in 80 patients with old-onset PD (at an age older than 60 years), 69 young-onset patients (younger than 40 years), and 149 age- and sex-matched control subjects. Contrary to previous reports, we were unable to implicate well water or exposure to herbicides, pesticides, or industrial toxins as significant PD risk factors. A residential history of rural living was reported by more patient cases than control subjects and was marginally significant. On the other hand, at least one episode of head trauma "severe enough to cause vertigo, dizziness, blurred or double vision, seizures or convulsions, transient memory loss, personality changes, or paralysis" occurred significantly more often prior to disease onset in patients with both young-onset and old-onset PD than in control subjects (odds ratio = 2.7). When adjusted for head trauma and rural living, smoking was inversely associated with PD, as has been previously reported (odds ratio = 0.5). There were no significant differences in early life experiences or environmental exposures between young-onset and old-onset patients. We suggest that the risk of developing PD is influenced by a variety of factors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:The epidemiology of Parkinson's disease. A case-control study of young-onset and old-onset patients. 195 12

To investigate possible risk factors in Parkinson's disease, we conducted a case-controlled study of 19 families having two or more siblings with Parkinson's disease. Demographic data were collected, including lifetime histories of places of residence; sources of drinking water; occupations, such as farming; and exposure to herbicides and pesticides. Rural living and drinking well water, but not farming and herbicide exposure, were significantly increased in 38 parkinsonians compared with 38 normal control subjects. A comparison of parkinsonian siblings with siblings with essential tremor revealed no differences in any risk factors for the years of shared environment. These data suggest that living in a rural environment and drinking well water are risk factors for Parkinson's disease and that the total life exposure to an environmental toxin may be more important than exposure in early life.
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PMID:Environmental risk factors in siblings with Parkinson's disease. 200 Nov 87

For decades clinicians have postulated a characteristic preexisting personality in patients who develop Parkinson's disease (PD). They are described as moralistic, law-abiding, conscientious, and averse to risk-taking. The limited personality surveys tend to be confirmatory, but most of the literature is anecdotal or replete with unprovable psychodynamic postulates. In addition to an apparent stability of marriages and lack of alcoholism, patients with PD are less likely than controls to be smokers. It has been suggested that nicotine and its byproducts are not actually protective against PD, and it could be postulated that higher-than-average intrinsic dopamine may facilitate addiction. Smoking for the patient who is later to develop PD may be particularly unrewarding. In addition, the postulated personality for PD may predispose to hard work, perspiration, and increased exposure to putative trace elements in the water supply.
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PMID:Is there a premorbid personality typical for Parkinson's disease? 204 97

We have studied 44 patients diagnosed of idiopathic Parkinson disease included in our database of rigid-akinetic syndromes. We have compared their demographic, environmental and clinical features with the ones that presented a group on 22 patients diagnosed of idiopathic Parkinson disease and had some first degree relatives with the same disease. Patients with familial Parkinson disease are distinguished from the ones that suffer from sporadic Parkinson disease because of an early start, greater consanguinity rate and greater frequency of a similar disease in their parents. Moreover, we have seen that familial Parkinson disease patients have drunk more water from wells during their lives than the ones that suffer sporadic Parkinson disease, present greater frequency of wide motoricity disorders, dystonia, night hypokinesia, fluctuations in relation to L-DOPA and greater frequency of early going grey. We have not found either epidemiologic data which could explain the appearance of familial cases or environmental causes which could produce familial Parkinson disease. Clinical differences between the two groups are likely due to an early start of symptoms in familial Parkinson disease cases. According to our data we could not conclude that between familial and sporadic Parkinson disease are significant differences in to justify two well-defined diseases. Even, the familial presentation of idiopathic Parkinson disease could be the normal form of Parkinson disease if long survival was a favourable factor of disease onset in pre-symptomatic persons.
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PMID:[Clinical and epidemiologic characteristics of familial Parkinson disease]. 209 60

We examined the role of the environment in the development of Parkinson's disease (PD). A group of 42 parkinsonians have been compared with a group of 84 matched controls. The epidemiological study (1987-1989) covered the territory of the Community Health Department of Valleyfield, in southern Quebec (Canada). Odds ratio adjusted for age and sex were calculated for seven environmental factors. A decreased risk for PD was associated with residence in rural areas (OR: 0.31; p less than or equal to 0.05) and residence near industry or mining (OR: 0.15; p less than or equal to 0.05). An increased risk for PD seems to be associated with occupational exposure to the three metals Mn, Fe and Al (OR: 2.28; p = 0.07) especially when the duration of exposure is longer than 30 years (OR: 13.64; p less than or equal to 0.05). Other environmental factors not found to be associated with PD were: pesticides manipulation, farm work, industrial work and well water consumption.
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PMID:[Environmental factors in the etiology of Parkinson's disease]. 220 82

On three adjacent kibbutzim in the Negev (southern region) of Israel, 13 cases of Parkinson's disease were found in a population of 592 persons who were at least 40 yr of age. There were no clinical (or other) findings that distinguished these Parkinson's disease cases. Long-term residence is characteristic of this population. During the past 40 yr, water has been supplied to these persons via wells from a common aquifer. On the basis of local age-specific incidence data, no difference in age distribution was found between clustered and nonclustered cases. The incidence of Parkinson's disease is about five times greater in each of the three kibbutzim than in the remainder of the region. The three kibbutzim in the cluster use similar agricultural chemicals, as do other kibbutzim. Although associations with rural residence and well water use have been reported elsewhere, clusters of this sort have not been reported. Clusters strongly suggest that common environmental factors exist. Drinking water and agricultural chemicals are the most likely common environmental factors.
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PMID:Clustering of Parkinson's disease points to environmental etiology. 233 36

To investigate possible risk factors for Parkinson's disease (PD) we conducted a case-control study of 150 PD patients and 150 age- and sex-matched controls. We interviewed and examined all 300 subjects. We collected demographic data including lifetime histories of places of residence, source of drinking water, and occupations such as farming. Subjects completed a detailed questionnaire regarding herbicide/pesticide exposure. Rural living and drinking well water were significantly increased in the PD patients. This was observed regardless of age at disease onset. Drinking well water was dependent on rural living. There were no significant differences between cases and controls for farming or any measure of exposure to herbicides or pesticides. These data provide further evidence that an environmental toxin could be involved in the etiology of PD.
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PMID:Environmental risk factors in Parkinson's disease. 238 28

The production by the pyridine MPTP of a parkinsonian syndrome strikingly similar to the 'idiopathic' disorder, and the paucity of evidence supporting a hereditary or infectious etiology for Parkinson's disease (PD), have stimulated a search for environmental chemicals resembling MPTP that might cause PD. In support of this, descriptive epidemiological studies have found higher prevalences of PD in highly industrialized countries. In North America and Europe, early onset PD appears to be associated with rural residence. Factors associated with this include vegetable farming, well water drinking, wood pulp, paper and steel industries. In China, living in industrialized urban areas increases the risk of developing PD. Preliminary epidemiological evidence supports the hypothesis that environmental chemicals may be related to the development of PD, but specific chemicals and their specific mechanism(s) have not been identified.
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PMID:The role of environmental toxins in the etiology of Parkinson's disease. 246 10

T2-weighted MRI shows attenuated signals from the basal ganglia, such signal attenuation being more evident at high magnetic field strengths of 1.5 tesla (T). The basal ganglia contain high levels of iron, and it has been suggested that these iron deposits lead to shortening of bulk water T2 protons via a mechanism involving diffusion of water through local magnetic field gradients generated by the iron. This mechanism generates a relaxation contribution that is proportional to the square of the applied static field B0, and if it is significant the relaxation rate 1/T2 should be strongly dependent on Bo. T2-weighted MRI would then provide a potential means of imaging regional cerebral iron levels at field strengths that are high enough for this mechanism to be important. The bulk water proton spin-spin relaxation times (T2) of samples from caudate nucleus, frontal cortex, and white matter, taken from fresh cerebral necropsy material of four subjects dying of non-neurological conditions, and one subject with Parkinson's disease have been measured. T2 values were compared with regional cerebral iron content. At high field strengths (2.35 T and 8.5 T) no significant variation in regional cerebral water proton T2 values was found; caudate, cortex and white matter had similar water proton spin-spin relaxation times in spite of the variation in their iron content. Increasing the field strength from 2.35 T to 8.5 T resulted in a generalised 50% decrease in mean regional cerebral T2 values, as opposed to the 13-fold decrease expected if T2 relaxation was dominated by a mechanism that is dependent on B02. It was thus not possible to provide evidence that iron deposition per se is responsible for the attenuated signal obtained from the basal ganglia in T2-weighted MRI.
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PMID:Does signal-attenuation on high-field T2-weighted MRI of the brain reflect regional cerebral iron deposition? Observations on the relationship between regional cerebral water proton T2 values and iron levels. 270 18

We studied the role of environment in the development of Parkinson's disease (PD) in China, where industrialization is relatively recent and the population geographically stable. Using a case-control method, we investigated the relationship between PD and exposure to the following factors before disease onset: place of residence, source of drinking water, environmental and occupational exposure to various agricultural and industrial processes. Occupational or residential exposure to industrial chemicals, printing plants, or quarries was associated with an increased risk of developing PD. In contrast, living in villages and exposure to the common accompaniments of village life, wheat growing and pig raising, were associated with a decreased risk for PD. PD cases and controls did not differ with respect to other factors investigated. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that environmental exposure to certain industrial chemicals may be related to the development of PD.
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PMID:Environmental factors and Parkinson's disease: a case-control study in China. 271 Mar 56


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