Environmental Factors In Parkinsons Disease
Here are environmental factors that may play a role in the development of Parkinsons disease:
Although environmental exposure to these and other toxins is of continued research interest, its hard to determine if any one substance is a culprit. Most often, individual cases of Parkinsons disease result from a complex interplay between genetics and environmental and other factors.
Research On Paraquat And Parkinsons Disease
There are a number of studies that show that exposure to Paraquat can increase the risk for a person developing Parkinsons disease.
A study by the University of Guelph found that low-level exposure to the pesticides disrupts cells in a way that mimics the effects of mutations known to cause Parkinsons disease.
People exposed to these chemicals are at about a 250-percent higher risk of developing Parkinsons disease than the rest of the population.
-Paraquat researcher Scott Ryan
Another study published in 2017 by the National Institute of Health found that Paraquats chemical structure was very similar to the active metabolite of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine in the body. MPTP is a common neurotoxicant that can cause neurodegeneration.
In the results of the study, researchers found that when mice were exposed to certain levels of MPTP and Paraquat, they experienced some level of neurodegeneration. This finding, among others, has led researchers to believe that there may be a link between Paraquat exposure and the onset of Parkinsons disease.
Who Is At Risk Of Exposure
Workers who used commercial herbicides or entered agricultural fields after applying the herbicide and bystanders exposed to spray drift may have suffered injuries due to exposure. The most common injury associated with these commercial herbicides is Parkinson’s disease, a debilitating nervous system disorder that affects as many as 60,000 people in the United States annually.
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Lawsuits Allege Parkinsons Disease Caused By Chemical Exposure
The emerging evidence showing that exposure to certain chemicals can lead to Parkinsons disease is at the center of 2 major class action lawsuits that are currently ongoing.
Camp Lejeune Parkinsons Disease Lawsuits
Camp Lejeune is a military base in North Carolina. For decades, the water supply at Lejeune was contaminated with TCE and other solvents. Public health studies were done to examine the impact that this contaminated water had on the health of Lejeune residents and employees.
In 2017, the Veterans Administration identified a list of diseases and health conditions that could be presumptively linked to the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. One of the presumptive Camp Lejeune diseases on this list was Parkinsons disease.
In August 2022, Congress passed a new law that gave victims of the Camp Lejeune water contamination the ability to bring civil lawsuits and seek compensation for their injuries. Thousands of former Camp Lejeune residents and employees who were subsequently diagnosed with Parkinsons disease are now bringing Camp Lejeune Parkinsons disease lawsuits under the new law. Since Parkinsons was one of the diseases that the VA listed as presumptively connected to Camp Lejeune, causation in these cases will be simple to prove.
Paraquat Parkinsons Disease Lawsuits
Contact Us About a Parkinsons Disease Lawsuit
The Neurotoxic Herbicide Paraquat
The potent herbicide paraquat is another prototypic toxin known to exert deleterious effects through oxidative stress. Indeed, as reviewed elsewhere, paraquat toxicity is mediated by redox cycling with cellular diaphorase such as nitric oxide synthase, yielding ROS. As detailed, the actual reduction-oxidation cycling reaction of paraquat can thus be depicted in . Thus far, there have been several cases of lethal poisoning resulting from ingestion or dermal exposure. For many years, experimental studies using paraquat were focusing on its effects on lung, liver, and kidney probably because the toxicity induced by this herbicide in these organs is responsible for death after acute exposure. However, significant damage to the brain is seen in individuals who died from paraquat intoxication, despite the fact that paraquat poorly crosses the BBB spontaneously. Furthermore, epidemiological studies have suggested an increased risk for PD due to paraquat exposure, raising the possibility that paraquat could be an environmental parkinsonian toxin. In keeping with this, it is relevant to point out that paraquat exhibits a striking structural similarity to MPTP toxic metabolite 1-methyl-4-pheylpyridinium .
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Parkinsons And Occupational Pesticides
A 2012 review of research from Belgiums Catholic University of Louvain confirmed that Parkinsons disease is linked to occupational exposure to pesticides.
The researchers, working with the Louvain Center for Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, analyzed studies between 1985 and 2011 that looked at pesticide exposure by workers who handled pesticides. These included farm workers who sprayed pesticides.
The research found that those who handled pesticides were significantly more likely to contract Parkinsons disease. In four studies, where the Parkinsons diagnoses were confirmed by neurologists, those handling pesticides had an average of over two-and-a-half times the risk of contracting Parkinsons disease. The increased risk ranged from 46% higher to almost four-and-a-half times higher among the workers.
Three cohort studies, which followed larger populations and compared them to the general population, concluded that workers handling pesticides had close to twice the risk of contracting Parkinsons disease than the rest of the population.
One of these cohort studies showed workers handling pesticides had almost three times the rate of contracting Parkinsons disease.
Their meta-analysis found that all twelve studies individually and combined, established a link between pesticide exposure and Parkinsons disease.
The researchers concluded:
Hundreds Of Paraquat Lawsuits Claim Weed Killer Causes Parkinsons Disease
A growing number of lawsuits filed in the federal court system allege that exposure to Paraquat, a controversial weed killer that has been sprayed on farms, fields, and orchards across the United States for decades, causes Parkinsons disease, a progressive and incurable disorder that attacks nerve cells in the brain. To date, there are nearly 300 Paraquat lawsuits pending in the federal court system, where the claims have been centralized before Nancy J. Rosenstengel for coordinated pretrial proceedings as part of a multidistrict litigation . If you or someone you know was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease following exposure to Paraquat as a commercial agricultural worker or as a result of herbicide drift, contact us today to find out if you are eligible to file a Paraquat lawsuit for compensation.
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Exposure To Pesticides In The Military
Agent Orange was an herbicide that US troops sprayed in Vietnam from 1961-1971 to kill trees and crops that provided protection and food to the rival army. It is a mixture of two chemicals: 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic acid. Agent Orange was also contaminated with Dioxin, a chemical even more damaging than Agent Orange itself, since it is very long-lasting.
The effects of Agent Orange on both the Vietnamese population and on American soldiers has been studied extensively, but with much variability in the results. Birth defects have been attributed to Agent Orange exposure, as well as multiple types of cancer.
With the understanding that the Veteran community served selflessly on behalf of the American people and therefore deserve the protection and support of the American government, the Agent Orange Act was passed in 1991, allowing the Department of Veteran Affairs to declare certain conditions presumptive to exposure to Agent Orange, even if the scientific data associating Agent Orange with that condition was not airtight.
The list of conditions has grown over the years, and in 2010, PD was added. Read here about how veterans who may have been exposed to Agent Orange and have subsequently developed PD are eligible for VA healthcare and disability compensation. APDA offers a free booklet specifically for veterans to help them find the care and support they need.
Lawsuits: Manufacturers Failed To Warn Of Parkinsons Risk
Lawsuits say manufacturers failed to warn the public that paraquat could cause Parkinsons and that their products are defective in design, among other claims.
James Hemker filed a lawsuit against paraquat manufacturers Syngenta and Chevron in February 2021. Paraquat had no warnings that exposure could lead to neurological damage, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit claimed Hemker helped his father and brother farm alfalfa, corn, soybeans and wheat in the 1960s and was exposed to paraquat until the late 1970s or 1980.
Hemker was repeatedly exposed to and inhaled, ingested, and absorbed paraquat while he was mixing, loading, and spraying Defendants paraquat products and while he was in fields after they were sprayed, according to the complaint.
Doctors diagnosed Hemker with Parkinsons disease in 2008.
According to the complaint, he did not or could not have known that wearing gloves, a mask, or other personal protective equipment might have prevented or reduced his risk of Parkinsons.
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Treatment: Boosting Dopamines Effects
Your doctor might give you one of these, alone or with another drug:
- Dopamine agonists: They act like dopamine but donât raise levels of it in your brain. You can take them with any drug that has levodopa. You might try pramipexole or ropinirole .
- COMT Inhibitors: They help levodopa last longer. You might get entacapone or tolcapone .
- MAO-B inhibitors: These stop your brain from breaking down levodopa. You could get selegiline or rasagiline .
Genetic Forms And Genetic Risk Factors Of Pd
Although most cases of PD are idiopathic forms of the disease, about 15% of PD patients are recognized as having a first-degree family member with this disease. Recently, the genetic factors and gene loci involving in autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive forms of PD have been discovered due to advanced molecular genetics . The mutations in several genes, including -syn, LRRK2, PINK1, Parkin, DJ-1, VPS35 and GBA1 are linked to PD . In addition to mutations in these genetic loci, polymorphisms, and trinucleotide repeats are recognized as PD genes, or susceptibility factors for PD .
TABLE 1. Autosomal recessive and X-linked genes involved in Parkinsons disease.
TABLE 2. Autosomal dominant genes involved in Parkinsons disease.
TABLE 3. Susceptibility factors of Parkinsons disease.
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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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Scientific Studies Linking Paraquat To Parkinsons Disease
The acute toxic effects of the herbicide paraquat are not disputed. EPA states unequivocally that, One Sip Can Kill. Deaths have occurred from accidental and intentional ingestion. In South Korea, parqauat is commonly used to commit suicide. Paraquat poisoning can also lead to heart, kidney, and liver failure, lung scarring, respiratory failure, seizures, and other severe side effects.
More is being learned about the effects of chronic exposure to paraquat in relatively low doses, such as the amounts experienced by agriculture workers and those who eat food with paraquat residue.
There is strong scientific evidence linking paraquat to Parkinsons disease. Research published in 2011 known as the Farming and Movement Evaluation study found that people who use paraquat are two and a half times, or 250% more likely to develop Parkinsons.
Another study found that people exposed to paraquat as a teen or young adult had an increased risk of Parkinsons of 200 to 600 percent, depending on how many years they were exposed.
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Does Paraquat Cause Parkinsons Disease
The same properties that make paraquat toxic to plants and animals are what cause Parkinsons disease in humans, according to studies cited in lawsuits.
Scientists think Parkinsons disease is caused by the death of neurons that produce dopamine in the brain.
Studies have shown paraquat creates oxidative stress that kills dopamine-producing neurons. The scientific community has known about paraquats oxidative stress qualities since the 1960s, according to lawsuits.
Paraquat is one of only a handful of toxins that scientists use to produce animal models of Parkinsons disease. Source: Adams v. Syngenta et al.
According to a 2020 study by Fegnyu Ming and colleagues published in BioMed Research International, paraquat crosses the blood-brain barrier where it affects neurons.
Study results suggest paraquat may kill cells in healthy people and people with Parkinsons disease. Authors wrote that epidemiological research shows paraquat exposure strongly increases the risk of Parkinsons disease in humans.
In Parkinsons disease experiments, scientists use pesticides including paraquat and benomyl to induce Parkinsons disease in nonhuman and human primates, according to a 2020 article in Neurology India.
What Is The Paraquat Settlement
Were you or a close relative exposed to this highly toxic substance? If so, you can file a paraquat lawsuit against the company to get compensation for lost wages and medical bills. The process is called a paraquat lawsuit settlement.
For instance, Syngenta is a company that makes hazardous chemicals and is being held liable in many paraquat lawsuits.
The paraquat lawyers hold the company accountable because it:
- Should have known due to extensive testing before product release or knew about the toxic effects of Paraquat exposure and its link with Parkinson’s
- Failed to warn the chemical users about the health consequences of the herbicide use
- Failed to protect users from paraquat exposure by taking responsible steps
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Researchers Think These Factors May Be Linked To Parkinsons
Dorsey and others called for a shift in current funding for biomedical research from treatment to prevention, and for further advocacy. The new policies should seek to reduce the prevalence of chemical exposure, among other goals, and mimic the efforts of smoking prevention campaigns, which have led to a steep drop in lung cancer.
If we care, we can prevent millions of people from ever developing these debilitating and deadly diseases, Dorsey said. If we educate the communities were supposed to serve, we can have them be mobilized and change the course of all these diseases.
Its a daunting task, said Walter J. Koroshetz, MD, director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and co-moderator of the symposium, but I think its time to start now.
He said the institute has launched an office for exposome research, which will be conducted in close collaboration with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
These cumulative exposures are an existential threat in our modern environment, and we as neurologists and neuroscientist must focus our attention on this under-recognized and growing issue, said Frances E. Jensen, MD, president of the American Neurological Association, and chair of the symposium.
Paraquat Exposure And Parkinsons Disease
According to the American Parkinson Disease Association, studies have linked an increased risk of Parkinsons disease in people who were exposed to a rural environment at an early age including:
- People exposed to farm animals
- People who live on farms
- People with known exposure to pesticides
- People who drink well water
- People who live in a rural area
These studies go on to suggest that the uniting factor in these occurrences of Parkinsons disease with people living in rural areas can be traced to exposure to pesticides. In a study of these pesticides, Paraquat was shown to have one of the strongest associations with causing the development of known mechanisms linked to the pathology of Parkinsons disease.
To see if you qualify for a Paraquat lawsuit, call 1-800-525-7111 for a FREE consultation and claim investigation.
We are committed to seeking justice for those whose Parkinsons disease was potentially caused by Paraquat.
If you or a loved one have been exposed to Paraquat and developed Parkinsons disease, call 1-800-525-7111 for a FREE review of your case to see if you may qualify for a Paraquat lawsuit.
This settlement changed me and my familys lives.
Linda B., Riddle & Brantley client
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Lewy Body Dementia Research
Many avenues of research are being explored to improve our understanding of LBD. Some researchers are working to identify the specific differences in the brain between the two types of LBD. Others are looking at the diseases underlying biology, genetics, and environmental risk factors. Still other scientists are trying to identify biomarkers , improve screening tests to aid diagnosis, and research new treatments.
Scientists hope that new knowledge about LBD will one day lead to more effective treatments and even ways to cure and prevent the disorder. Until then, researchers need volunteers with and without LBD for clinical studies.
NIH and other groups help people learn about clinical trials and studies and find research opportunities near them. Visit the following websites for details:
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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