Toxic Causes Of Parkinson Disease

Clinicopathological Correlation In Parkinsons Disease

PD is traditionally defined by a series of clinical symptoms. These are predominantly motor disorders that give rise to the rigid-akinetic syndrome. PD is the main aetiology of rigid-akinetic syndromes. Nevertheless, non-motor symptoms are widely distributed in PD patients.

Figure 1

Braaks staging of Parkinsons disease pathology progression. Illustrations showing the intracerebral progression of PD pathology. Schematics of the pathology progression from the ENS. Correlation between PD staging and the appearance of the pathology in different intracerebral structures. Modified from Braak et al. .

Corresponding to structural alterations, there are motor and non-motor symptoms in iPD. The onset of motor features correlates with the loss of dopamine input to the posterior putamen, corresponding to the motor region of the striatum. The main classical features of PD are therefore mainly related to the dysfunction of the motor circuit. As the disease progresses and the loss of dopaminergic neurons increases, the dopaminergic input to other areas of the striatum and the cortex decreases, giving rise to clinical symptoms characteristic of the dysfunction of higher cerebral structures.

Does Exposure To Pesticides Herbicides Or Other Pollutants Increase The Risk Of Developing Parkinson Disease

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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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Now Is A Major Opportunity To Move Forward

Although still somewhat controversial, the Braak hypothesis presents a unique hypothetical framework of PD development that may allow us to better conceptualize steps of PD prodromal development and environmental contributions. According to this hypothesis, PD Lewy pathology develops in six sequential stages, first in the olfactory bulb or enteric nerves , years if not decades, before spreading to the substantia nigra where dopaminergic neuron death occurs . In support of this hypothesis, recent clinical and epidemiological studies have clearly documented a wide range of nonmotor symptoms in PD patients, and some symptoms such as olfactory impairment , REM sleep behavior disorder , and constipation may have developed years, if not decades, prior to PD clinical diagnosis. While there are still substantial challenges to adequately define prodromal PD, by using these symptoms as noninvasive intermediate phenotypes, we may be able to bring new insights into this black-box of PD prodromal development by identifying factors that initiate PD pathogenesis, lead to these intermediate phenotypes, or modify progression to clinical PD . This framework may fundamentally improve understanding of PD prodromal development and contributions from environmental factors.

Fig.1

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What Is Parkinsons Disease

Parkinsons disease is a condition where a part of your brain deteriorates, causing more severe symptoms over time. While this condition is best known for how it affects muscle control, balance and movement, it can also cause a wide range of other effects on your senses, thinking ability, mental health and more.

Translating Certainty Ratings Into Levels Of Evidence For Parkinsonian

Five descriptors will be used to rate the level of evidence: high,moderate,low,inadequate evidence, and evidence of no health effect. The first three descriptors used in the previous step to indicate the certainty of the evidence will be directly converted into levels of evidence. However, if the level of certainty is very low or no evidence is identified, the level of evidence will be considered inadequate .

The descriptor evidence of no health effect that indicates that paraquat is not related to PD in humans or in rodent models will be considered only when the level of certainty is high .

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Metal Elements And Pesticides As Risk Factors For Parkinson’s Disease

Common miRNA association between Parkinson’s Disease and pesticides exist.

Pesticide-deregulated miRNAs affect PD-related molecules, e.g. -synuclein.

There exist an association between essential, non-essential metals and PD.

UPS and mitochondrial impairment, oxidative stress, gene mutation and -Syn aggregation are prime mechanisms involved in essential, non-essential metals neurotoxicity in PD.

What Are The Symptoms

The best-known symptoms of Parkinson’s disease involve loss of muscle control. However, experts now know that muscle control-related issues aren’t the only possible symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

Motor-related symptoms

Motor symptoms which means movement-related symptoms of Parkinsons disease include the following:

Additional motor symptoms can include:

• Blinking less often than usual. This is also a symptom of reduced control of facial muscles.
• Cramped or small handwriting. Known as micrographia, this happens because of muscle control problems.
• Drooling. Another symptom that happens because of loss of facial muscle control.
• Mask-like facial expression. Known as hypomimia, this means facial expressions change very little or not at all.
• Trouble swallowing . This happens with reduced throat muscle control. It increases the risk of problems like pneumonia or choking.
• Unusually soft speaking voice . This happens because of reduced muscle control in the throat and chest.

Non-motor symptoms

Several symptoms are possible that aren’t connected to movement and muscle control. In years past, experts believed non-motor symptoms were risk factors for this disease when seen before motor symptoms. However, theres a growing amount of evidence that these symptoms can appear in the earliest stages of the disease. That means these symptoms might be warning signs that start years or even decades before motor symptoms.

Non-motor symptoms include:

Stages of Parkinsons disease

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What Tests Will Be Done To Diagnose This Condition

When healthcare providers suspect Parkinsons disease or need to rule out other conditions, various imaging and diagnostic tests are possible. These include:

• Blood tests .
• Positron emission tomography scan.

New lab tests are possible

Researchers have found possible ways to test for possible indicators or Parkinsons disease. Both of these new tests involve the alpha-synuclein protein but test for it in new, unusual ways. While these tests cant tell you what conditions you have because of misfolded alpha-synuclein proteins, that information can still help your provider make a diagnosis.

The two tests use the following methods.

• Spinal tap. One of these tests looks for misfolded alpha-synuclein proteins in cerebrospinal fluid, which is the fluid that surrounds your brain and spinal cord. This test involves a spinal tap , where a healthcare provider inserts a needle into your spinal canal to collect some cerebrospinal fluid for testing.
• Skin biopsy. Another possible test involves a biopsy of surface nerve tissue. A biopsy includes collecting a small sample of your skin, including the nerves in the skin. The samples come from a spot on your back and two spots on your leg. Analyzing the samples can help determine if your alpha-synuclein has a certain kind of malfunction that could increase the risk of developing Parkinsons disease.

What Do We Know Now About Environmental Factors And Pd

In the past two decades, scientists have identified over a dozen environmental factors associated with the risk of developing PD, and for a majority, findings are reasonably consistent across studies . Examples include inverse associations with smoking , coffee drinking , vigorous exercise , ibuprofen use , and plasma urate , as well as positive associations with overall pesticide exposure , use of specific pesticides , and traumatic brain injury . For most of these associations, plausible biological hypotheses have been proposed. However, causal inference for these epidemiological findings has been very difficult. Apart from limited and often inconsistent experimental data, for most of these epidemiological observations, reverse causation is a viable potential explanation – that PD development prior to clinical diagnosis changes lifestyle and behavior rather than the other way around. Possible exceptions are the use of certain pesticides. For example, epidemiological findings on rotenone and paraquat are supported by strong experimental evidence, so much so that these chemicals are being used to generate rodent models for PD therapeutic research . Even for pesticides, there are many important questions unanswered. Therefore, despite its importance and a reasonable accumulation of literature, our understanding of environmental contributions to PD is still in its infancy.

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Coughing And Shortness Of Breath

The irritation and inflammation caused by mold often lead to frequent coughing that is otherwise unexplained.

The throat and lungs are irritated continuously when repeatedly exposed to mycotoxins. If the issue isnt addressed, this coughing can develop into more severe conditions such as pneumonia and bronchitis.

The same inflammation that causes irritated, constricted airways that lead to wheezing and coughing can eventually lead to shortness of breath.

This gives a feeling of tightness in the chest. It may feel like you are unable to take in a full breath.

What Do You Think

About Joe Cannon

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How Much Graviola Is Toxic To Brain Cells And Might Trigger Parkinson’s

According to one assay, a piece of Graviola fruit contains 15 mg of annonacin and a can of commercially available Graviola nectar contains 36 mg. These researchers went on to state that an adult person who consumes 1 piece of Graviola fruit or 1 can of nectar each day for a year, would receive the same dosage of annonacin found to be neurotoxic to animals when it was injected. From this one might assume that it would take a long-term exposure to acetogenins to cause a harmful reaction.

Does this mean if you’ve been regularly eating about this amount of Graviola or drank it as a tea or nectar you will get atypical PSP parkinsonism after a year’s time? This is not known. For example, is it possible the dosage might be more or less than this depending on your body weight? Also, are women at lower risk than men?

To make this matter more complicated, in 2010, AVIS, the French Food Safety Agency, stated that there was not enough proof yet and it was not possible to conclude that the cases of Parkinson’s disease observed in Guadeloupe are connected to Graviola consumption.

No One Definitive Cause Of Parkinsons

There are no biomarkers or objective screening tests that indicate one has Parkinsons. That said, medical experts have shown that a constellation of factors are linked to it.

Parkinsons causes are likely a blend of genetics and environmental or other unknown factors. About 10 to 20 percent of Parkinsons disease cases are linked to a genetic cause, says Ted Dawson, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Institute for Cell Engineering at Johns Hopkins. The types are either autosomal dominant or autosomal recessive .

But that leaves the majority of Parkinsons cases as idiopathic, which means unknown. We think its probably a combination of environmental exposure to toxins or pesticides and your genetic makeup, says Dawson.

Age. The biggest risk factor for developing Parkinsons is advancing age. The average age of onset is 60.

Gender. Men are more likely to develop Parkinsons disease than women.

Genetics. Individuals with a parent or sibling who is affected have approximately two times the chance of developing Parkinsons. Theres been an enormous amount of new information about genetics and new genes identified over the past 10 or 15 years that have opened up a greater understanding of the disease, says Dawson.

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Paraquat Herbicide Law Firm

If you or someone you know may have been exposed to Paraquat as a farmer, farm worker, herbicide applicator, chemical mixer, tank filler, agricultural pilot, or if you lived near crops treated with the dangerous herbicide, Cory Watson Attorneys will fight to get you the compensation you need for your injuries and suffering. Call now at 877-562-0000 or fill out our free consultation form. The lawyers at Cory Watson will evaluate your case 100% free of charge.

Cory Watsons dedicated, experienced lawyers have handled thousands of dangerous chemical lawsuits for decades, and we believe you shouldnt have to pay for a companys negligence. Our legal team is ready to help you get the compensation you deserve for the suffering you have gone through.

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Cory Watson Attorneys is a nationally recognized personal injury law firm with offices in Birmingham, Alabama as well as Memphis, and Nashville, Tennessee. The firm has recovered more than $3 billion for clients across the country. Cory Watson Attorneys are frequently at the forefront of major class actions and multidistrict litigations involving product liability related to serious injuries from defective products and are often appointed to leadership positions in national cases. Firm practice areas include Personal Injury, Product Liability, Class Action, Asbestos, Business & Commercial Litigation, Dangerous Pharmaceuticals, Defective Medical Devices, and Environmental/Toxic Torts.

How Is It Diagnosed

Diagnosing Parkinson’s disease is mostly a clinical process, meaning it relies heavily on a healthcare provider examining your symptoms, asking you questions and reviewing your medical history. Some diagnostic and lab tests are possible, but these are usually needed to rule out other conditions or certain causes. However, most lab tests aren’t necessary unless you don’t respond to treatment for Parkinson’s disease, which can indicate you have another condition.

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Myth : Deep Brain Stimulation Is Experimental Therapy

Fact: Deep brain stimulation, or DBS, is a procedure in which doctors place electrodes in the brain at the point when medications are less effective in masking motor symptoms, such as tremor, stiffness and slowness of movement.

While it may sound frightening and futuristic, its been around and successfully used for decades. DBS works very similarly to a pacemaker, except the wire is in the brain, not in the heart. Its been a standard procedure for the past two decades.

Contact Texas Attorneys Investigating Roundup Cases

If you have questions about whether roundup caused your Parkinsons Disease, call us for a free initial consultation and explanation of your legal rights.

The attorneys at Herrman & Herrman P.L.L.C. offer more than 100 years of legal experience in representing people who have been harmed by unsafe products. Our legal team is ready to fight hard for the full compensation that you will need after a Parkinsons Disease diagnosis.

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Lead Exposure Linked To Parkinsons Disease

UCLA Health interviewed Dr. Beate Ritz, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health professor of epidemiology and environmental health sciences, about research that indicates a link between lead exposure and Parkinsons disease, a neurological disease that affects movement, mood, and cognition

Lead is a poison that particularly affects the brain and nervous system. Exposure to lead in the environment can cause developmental and behavioral problems in young children its also harmful to adults.

Lifelong exposure levels, however, can be tricky to measure.

Now, a new study from UCLA Health has shown a link between lead exposure and Parkinsons disease. The study demonstrates a new method for measuring long-term lead exposure that is much easier than previous methods, and that could be modified to test for other environmental toxins.

Parkinsons is a neurological disease that affects movement, causing tremors, muscle stiffness, and difficulty moving, and also affects mood and cognition. The causes of Parkinsons are not fully understood, but exposure to environmental toxins has been shown to play a role. Studies of the effect of lead on Parkinsons disease have been inconclusive so far.

In the new study, UCLA researchers applied a new blood test that can measure long-term lead exposure using epigenetics.

There are millions of places in the DNA that can be methylated, and characteristics such as age or smoking habits create identifiable patterns of methylation.

How Is It Treated And Is There A Cure

For now, Parkinsons disease is not curable, but there are multiple ways to manage its symptoms. The treatments can also vary from person to person, depending on their specific symptoms and how well certain treatments work. Medications are the primary way to treat this condition.

A secondary treatment option is a surgery to implant a device that will deliver a mild electrical current to part of your brain . There are also some experimental options, such as stem cell-based treatments, but their availability often varies, and many aren’t an option for people with Parkinsons disease.

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Exposure To Volatile Organic Compounds

U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina was established in 1942. In 1982, the Marine Corps discovered specific volatile organic compounds in the drinking water provided by two of the eight water treatment plants on base. Among those were the chemicals perchloroethylene or tetrachloroethylene , trichloroethylene , 1-2 dichloroethylene , and Benzene.

These compounds are known to have cancer-causing properties and cause birth defects as well as other conditions and neurological diseases. The Center for Disease Control determined that the high concentration of cases was a direct result of the disposal practices of a specific dry cleaner and industrial spills in the area. A report by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry claimed toxic levels existed from 1957 to 1987.

In 2017, again advocates from the former Parkinsons Action Network took to Capitol Hill and advocated for including PD as a presumptive disability and a treatable condition by the VA due to the water contamination at Camp Lejeune. This issue affects me personally because I served there as a veteran of the Marines.

I urge any member of the military or if you were a civilian working at Camp Lejeune to file a claim if you experienced any illness.