Parkinson S Disease Farmers And Herbicideuse: New Research Strengthens The Link
Parkinsons disease, a nervous system disorder, decreasesmuscle control and can eventually cripple the patient. Accordingto Dr. William Koller, a Parkinsons expert at the University ofKansas Medical Center, people who handle herbicides, drink wellwater, or are around industrial pollutants, appear more likely tocontract the disease. A new study conducted by researchers fromthe University of Calgary and the University of Saskatchewantests the hypothesis that the occupational use of herbicides isassociated with an increased risk for Parkinsons disease.2
The association between pesticide use and risk of Parkinsonsdisease has been studied for almost ten years, since researchersnoted that users of a drug that is chemically similar to theherbicide paraquat developed Parkinsons disease.
Ecke, Richard. 1992 Parkinsons hits rural Montana Great FallsTribune.
What Should I Know If Im Considering A Paraquat Lawsuit
If youre thinking of joining a paraquat lawsuit, heres what you need to know:
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You may be able to seek compensation for all of your damages, including medical costs, lost wages, pain and suffering, and declines in your quality of life.
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There are deadlines to file toxic exposure lawsuits and in-depth investigations that must be performed, so the sooner you get started, the better.
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You will need the help of an experienced paraquat lawsuit lawyer to prove that exposure to the herbicide is what caused you to develop Parkinsons disease.
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It costs you nothing out of pocket to get started with a claim. The consultation is free, and legal representation is offered on a no-win, no-fee basis.
For licensed applicators and other agricultural workers who developed Parkinsons disease after being exposed to paraquat, getting financial compensation will help you afford the best care. That, in turn, will help you have the best quality of life.
Who May Qualify To File A Paraquat Lawsuit
Those at the highest risk include farmers, agricultural workers, licensed herbicide/pesticide applicators, landscapers, and other people who used or were exposed to professional-grade herbicides.
If you or a family member has Parkinsons symptoms after using or being exposed to paraquat you may have a case against the manufacturer and be entitled to compensation.
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Data Synthesis And Statistical Analysis
Meta-analysis of results will be considered by investigating heterogeneity among animal and human studies, separately. It is common, though, that environmental health studies have some differences regarding outcome assessments and exposure definitions that could be an obstacle to formal statistical meta-analysis . The heterogeneity associated with pooled effect estimates will be assessed with the use of a 2 test and the I2 statistic . Heterogeneity will be classified as follows: 0 to 40% 30 to 60% 50 to 90% and 75 to 100% .
Statistical analysis will be conducted using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis STATA software . If considerable heterogeneity is detected among studies, meta-analysis will not be indicated and results will only be presented in tables or in a narrative synthesis. However, if heterogeneity does not exceed 75%, we will use random effects meta-analysis , which is a more conservative approach of pooling the results. In this case, the measure of association will be presented as odds ratios and mean difference, both with a 95% confidence interval , for studies with dichotomous and continuous data, respectively .
Hiring A Paraquat Lawsuit Lawyer To Resolve A Paraquat Herbicide
Has your doctor told you that exposure to toxic Paraquat could cause Parkinson’s? Did you work with the weed and grass killer and develop rashes through skin absorption or inhalation?
At Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, our paraquat attorneys have a proven track record of representing injured victims harmed by the popular herbicide. Our personal injury lawyers will review your paraquat case and advise you of your legal options.
Contact our paraquat lawyers today at 424-5757, or use the contact form to schedule a free consultation. All confidential or sensitive information you share with your paraquat lawyer remains private through an attorney-client relationship.
Our law firm accepts all personal injury cases and wrongful death lawsuits on a contingency fee basis. This agreement ensures you do not pay the legal fee until your paraquat attorney successfully resolves your legal issue through a negotiated paraquat settlement or jury award.
Contact our law firm today to file a Parkinson’s disease paraquat lawsuit.
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How Does The Court Measure Compensatory Damages
Compensatory damages will the a common type of damage awarded in Paraquat lawsuits. To be awarded compensatory damages, one must show the monetary value of the loss. The actual compensatory damages can include:
Modelling Pd In Rodents And Simple Organisms
Impaired mitochondrial function is a predominant feature in cases of Parkinson’s disease due to genetic or environmental modifications, which result in mitochondrial stress. This may directly compromise the neuron or cause alterations in neurotransmitter release, resulting in post-synaptic damage. A pro-inflammatory component is increasingly considered to be important in the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative conditions including PD, and pro-inflammatory activation of glial cells may be pivotal in disease onset.,
Although many of the genes involved in PD have been identified, their interactions are still unclear. Mutations of -synuclein or duplications of -synuclein are linked to familial PD and -synuclein is a component of Lewy bodies. -synuclein tends to form intracellular fibrils and aggregates, particularly after oxidative stress. Loss of an ubiquitin ligase, Parkin, is responsible for autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism. Finally, mutations in genes coding for UCH-L1 and Pink-1 are linked to autosomal recessive PD, whereas mutations in LRRK2 are linked with autosomal dominant PD. Recent work has shown that mutations in the mitochondrial protease HtrA2 are also linked to PD downstream of the kinase, Pink 1. Mutations in Parkin are recognized as the most common cause of familial parkinsonism and may be involved in sporadic PD. Parkin seems to work as a broad-spectrum neuroprotectant, the efficacy of which decreases with ageing.
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Deadline To File A Paraquat Exposure Claim
There is a deadline to file Paraquat injury claims. This deadline is called a statute of limitations. Statutes of limitation typically vary from state to state and may range from 1 to 6 years. However, for most states, the statute of limitations is 2 or 3 years from the day you received your diagnosis of Parkinsons disease. In Texas, the deadline is generally 2 years.
Failure to file your paraquat claim within this time frame results in ineligibility, which bars you from ever seeking any kind of compensation from the responsible manufacturers. Therefore, it is essential to contact a personal injury lawyer at Roberts & Roberts as soon as you or your family member learns you might have a case.
Work Exposure To Paraquat Not Associated With Increased Risk Of Parkinson Disease Mortality
Occupational exposure to the herbicide paraquat was not found to be associated with a greater risk of Parkinson disease or increased risk of mortality related to other causes.
Amid ongoing legal proceedings examining paraquat exposure with risk of Parkinson disease , a recent study published in the Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology indicates that the herbicide has no association with increased risk of PD or death from any cause.
With research over the past 35 years having evaluated environmental factors, including rural living, well-water consumption, farming, and pesticide exposure with risk of PD, researchers highlight that notable interest has focused on the quaternary ammonium herbicide PQ due to its structural similarity with a toxin, called 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine , that has been shown to cause permanent parkinsonism in humans.
Many experimental animal and in vitro studies of PQ have been performed looking for effects, such as deficits in dopaminergic neurons, but there remain many challenges in interpreting the relevance of these studies to humans, said the study authors.
Conducting an extended follow-up of 7.5 years, health data of 926 male and 42 female workers derived from the UK National Health Service digital database were included in the retrospective cohort analysis. Mortality rates for males were compared with national and local rates, including rates for PD as a mentioned cause of death.
Reference
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Neurotoxicity Of Pq Mptp And Other Dopamine Congeners
Several studies suggest that systemic administration of PQ can cause neuronal damage and a parkinsonian-like syndrome in experimental animals . The linking mechanism between PQ exposure and Parkinson’s disease is suggested by the alleged chemical similarity between this compound and others known to cause a parkinsonian syndrome, particularly MPTP. MPTP can reproduce most of the biochemical, neuropathological and clinical characteristics of human parkinsonism in both human and non-human primates, with the notable exception of Lewy body formation. MPTP toxicity has been studied in cell systems in mice and in non-human primates. In rats, dopaminergic neurodegeneration is observed at high doses, whereas mice have become the most commonly used species for MPTP studies as they develop a dopaminergic degeneration that may be related to human parkinsonism.
Figure 1
Mechanisms of PQ and MPTP toxicity. PQ can cause an oxidative stress either intracellularly by redox cycling or by activation at cell surfaces by the NADPH oxidase . Mitochondria can be affected indirectly or directly by PQ. In neurons the effects of PQ are believed to be primarily cytosolic. MPTP is converted to its toxic metabolite MPP+ and then sequestered through the dopamine transporter in dopaminergic neurons in which it primarily affects complex I, promoting oxidative stress and mitochondrial damage
It is apparent from this analysis that the initial targets and toxicity mechanisms of PQ and MPP+ differ .
What Is Paraquat Used For
Herbicides containing paraquat have been in long use to control weed and grass growth. Paraquat has been used as a stubble treatment in wheat fallow areas as a burn down pre-plant and as a desiccant on weeds and crops prior to harvest. Long-term exposure has been linked to serious, life-threatening health effects including an increased risk of developing Parkinsons disease.
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The Danger Of Paraquat Today
The United States banned DDT, Agent Orange, and heptachlor in the 1970s and 1980s. However, the United States has not banned all pesticides linked to Parkinsons. The one with perhaps the strongest link to the disease is still in widespread use: paraquat.
The United States has not banned all pesticides linked to Parkinsons. The one with perhaps the strongest link to the disease is still in widespread use: paraquat.
Paraquat has been used as a pesticide since the 1950s and is marketed as an alternative to the worlds most popular weed killer, glyphosate, more commonly known as Roundup. Paraquat takes care of weeds that not even Roundup can kill. Today, it is used on farm fields across the United States, and its use continues to increase. The pesticides primary uses are for corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, and grapes.
Portraits of several Parkinsons patients show the many faces of people with the diagnosis. It affects people from all walks of life.
Robert Dein
In the laboratory, paraquat reproduces the features of Parkinsons disease. In a 1999 study in Brain Research, A. I. Brooks of the University of Rochester and colleagues gave paraquat to mice, and their activity decreased. Paraquat also killed dopamine-producing nerve cells in the rodents substantia nigras. The greater the amount of paraquat administered, the greater the number of nerve cells lost.
Table adapted from: www.panna.org.
Figure adapted from R. Dorsey et al., 2020.
Does Exposure To Pesticides Herbicides Or Other Pollutants Increase The Risk Of Developing Parkinson Disease
A meta-analysis of 89 studies, including 6 prospective and 83 case-control studies, found that exposure to pesticides may increase the risk for PD by as much as 80%. Exposure to the weed killer paraquat or to the fungicides maneb or mancozeb is particularly toxic, increasing the risk for PD about 2-fold. Many of the agents studied are no longer used in the United States and Europe however, some are still found in developing parts of the world.
In case-control studies, PD was associated with exposure to any type of pesticide, herbicide, insecticide, and solvent, with risks ranging from 33% to 80%. Increased PD risk was also associated with proxy conditions of exposure to organic pollutants, such as farming, well-water drinking, and rural living. In addition, risk seemed to increase with length of exposure.
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What Is Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s disease is a chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disorder that has no cure. People with Parkinson’s, which is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, may experience a range of symptoms that develop gradually over time. Symptoms include:
- Tremors in the arms and legs
- Difficulty with coordination and balance
When To See A Doctor
The symptoms of Parkinsons disease include tremors, slowed movement, rigid muscles, posture and balance problems, and changes in speech and writing. There is no specific test to diagnose the disease, and diagnosis may not be immediate. If you are experiencing symptoms, it is recommended to schedule a visit with a neurologist. You may also want to speak with a lawyer about a paraquat lawsuit.
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Why Is Paraquat Restricted
In 2016, the EPA restricted the use of paraquat. The goal was to minimize accidental ingestions and reduce exposure to workers who mix, load, and apply the herbicide. Those restrictions included:
- Requiring changes to the herbicide warning labels to highlight the toxicity and risks associated with paraquat products.
- Restricting use to certified pesticide applicators only. Use by individuals working under the supervision of a certified applicator is also prohibited.
- Requiring specialized training for certified applicators to emphasize that the chemical should neither be transferred to, nor stored in, improper containers.
- Requiring new closed-system packaging to prevent transfer or removal of the pesticide except directly into proper application equipment. This protects users from spills, mixing, pouring the pesticide into other containers, or other actions that could cause exposure.
In October 2020, the EPA proposed new measures to better protect human health and the environment from the dangers of paraquat. The measures include:
What Is Parkinsons Disease
Parkinsons disease is a neurodegenerative disorder in which nerve cells in a part of the brain called the substantia nigra dont produce enough of the neurotransmitter dopamine, according to the Parkinsons Foundation. Not having enough dopamine is what causes the movement symptoms that distinguish Parkinsons disease, including tremors, limb rigidity, and gait problems.
Although it is a movement disorder, Parkinsons disease can bring about non-movement symptoms that include cognitive impairment, depression, sleep disorders, and constipation, according to the Parkinsons Foundation.
Parkinsons disease is a progressive disorder. This means the disease gets worse over time. Although Parkinsons disease is incurable, its symptoms are treatable. Data from some clinical research trials suggest that there is hope to slow Parkinsons disease progression through early intervention, although theres not enough data to conclusively demonstrate that this is possible, according to The American Journal of Managed Care.
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What Factors Contribute To Parkinson’s Disease
The most noticeable signs and symptoms of Parkinson’s disease appear when nerve cells in the basal ganglia, a region of the brain that controls movement, become impaired or die. Normally, these nerve cells, or neurons, produce dopamine, a key brain chemical. When neurons die or become impaired, they produce less dopamine, resulting in the disease’s movement problems. Scientists are still unsure what causes neurons to die.
People with Parkinson’s disease also lose nerve endings that produce norepinephrine, the main chemical messenger of the sympathetic nervous system, which regulates many bodily functions such as heart rate and blood pressure.
Some of the non-movement symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, such as fatigue, irregular blood pressure, decreased movement of food through the digestive tract, and a sudden drop in blood pressure when a person stands up from a sitting or lying position, may be explained by the loss of norepinephrine.
Many Parkinson’s disease brain cells contain Lewy bodies, which are unusual clumps of the protein alpha-synuclein. Scientists are attempting to better understand the normal and abnormal functions of alpha-synuclein, as well as its connections to genetic mutations that cause Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
Some Parkinson’s disease cases appear to be inherited, and a few cases can be linked to specific genetic mutations. While genetics is thought to play a role in Parkinson’s, the disease does not affect the majority of people.
What To Do If Youre Affected
If you or a loved one have used Roundup or were exposed to Roundups dangerous ingredient, glyphosate, and later developed Parkinsons disease, you may be eligible for compensation. Contact a personal injury attorney in your area who has experience in chemical exposure or herbicide cases. They can help review your situation and advise to whether you could win back some damages.
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Roundup Causing Parkinsons: A Brief Guide
Roundup is a popular chemical herbicide used on lawns, farms, and in gardens across the world. However, following recent studies that link Roundup to Parkinsons and other diseases, the herbicide is being more heavily regulated. Though there are regulations and Roundup has been banned in many counties, there are still areas of the United States where it goes unregulated. While Roundup may be an effective herbicide, its been shown to be extremely dangerous, and one of its key ingredients, glyphosate, is linked to Parkinsons disease.
Parkinsons Disease & Agriculture
Most cases of the disease occur randomly and do not seem to run in family bloodlines. But researchers believe that Parkinsons disease results from a combination of both genetic mutations and environmental factors. Occupational pesticide exposure, farming work, well water consumption, and residential pesticide use have all been linked to elevated rates of Parkinsons disease .
Studies have found an association between two common agrochemicals and Parkinsons disease. One study concluded that low-level exposure to pesticides and specific agrochemicals may disrupt cells in a way that mimics the effects of mutations known to cause Parkinsons disease.
Even low-level exposure for those with a genetic predisposition for Parkinsons disease drastically increases the risk of developing the disease. Epidemiological research demonstrates an increased risk among farmers and others exposed to agricultural chemicals. People exposed to these some herbicides are at about a 250-percent higher risk of developing Parkinsons disease than the general population, according to the study.
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