Link to original story at CBSNews.com
CBS News is reporting on FDA approval of the first home genetic tests for 10 health risks, including Parkinson’s disease and late-onset Alzheimer’s. “But, Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices, noted that "it is important that people understand that genetic risk is just one piece of the bigger puzzle. It does not mean they will or won’t ultimately develop a disease,” According to the FDA many factors contribute to lifetime risk for developing neurodegenerative disease including lifestyle and environmental factors.
Link to original story at CBSNews.com
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A new study from a team of Korean researchers suggests that air pollution can exacerbate symptoms of Parkinson's disease. The researchers reviewed medical records in the National Health Insurance Service–National Sample Cohort to investigate the association of short-term exposure to air pollution and the incidence of Parkinson’s disease symptom aggravation in Seoul, between 2002 and 2013. The results revealed a significant association between an eight-day exposure to increases in PM2.5, NO2 and CO and Parkinson’s symptom aggravation. The authors of the study suggest that their results may be important to future policy-making decisions aimed at reducing the cost of managing neurodegenerative disease in an aging society.
Link to article in PubMed Link to original story in Parkinson's News Today Massachusetts bill introduced to pay benefits to firefighters diagnosed with Parkinson's disease2/19/2017 The newly introduced bill entitled "HD1670 An Act relative to Parkinson’s Disease and Disability in Firefighters" was inspired by Greg Heath, a Westfield firefighter, who reportedly developed Parkinson’s after 17-years on the job.
This bill is consistent with the policy of the state of Indiana which treats PD as a line-of-duty disability and is similar to the benefit policy of the Workplace Safety and Insurrance Board of Ontario, Canada which relies on a whitepaper I authored for the agency at their request. This legislation assumes that the history of exposure to neurotoxic chemicals encountered in the workplace by firefighters contributes to their lifetime risk for PD. It is im[portant to remember that the cause of PD is not known and, that not all persons exposed to fumes from fires go on to develop PD and thus, it is more likely than not that exposure for fumes from fires is a disease modifying factor and not a causative factor per se. Link to original story at 22 WWLP.com Nicholas Bacalar of the New Times reports on the results of a recent study by Cacciottolo et al. which appears in the journal Transl Psychiatry. The data presented by these authors suggests that "airborne PM exposure promotes pathological brain aging in older women, with potentially a greater impact in ε4 carriers. The underlying mechanisms may involve increased cerebral Aβ production and selective changes in hippocampal CA1 neurons and glutamate receptor subunits."
Link to original article in PubMed Link to NY Times Story The Daily Mail is reporting on the results of a new study by Professor Chris Exley, of Keele University, whose latest research suggests that aluminum plays a role in cognitive decline in patients with familial Alzheimer's disease. Aluminum was detected using aluminium-specific fluorescence microscopy in brain tissue from subjects with familial AD. These data suggest that early-onset familial Alzheimer’s disease is associatd with bioaccumulation of aluminum in the brain and that this may play a role ina younger age at onset of the disease. These findings do not provide evidence of a causal relationship between exposure to aluminum and AD per se, aluminium is a recognized neurotoxicant, and so these data do provide additional support for the hypothesis that evironmental exposure to neurotoxic chemicals plays a role in age at onset of neurodegenerative diseases.
Link to story in the Daily Mail Link to oroginal article HealthDay News is reporting on the results of a study published in the Neurobiology of Aging suggesting that a mutation in the gene that code for the enzyme guanosine triphosphate cyclohydrolase-1 are implicated in cases of early onset Parkinson's disease. Catecholamine synthesizing enzymes such as guanosine triphosphate cyclohydrolase-1 are essential to normal motor function.
Dystonia and cock walk (toe walking) have been associated with manganese (Mn) exposure and with abnormal guanosine triphosphate cyclohydrolase-1 enzyme function. However, the interaction between Mn and guanosine triphosphate cyclohydrolase-1 function has not been fully elucidated. Divalent cations such as Mn2+ may inhibit the actviity of this enzyme (Fan and Brown 1976; Lista et al., 1976; Suzuki et al., 2004). Thus, future studies looking at the interactions between Mn exposure and guanosine triphosphate cyclohydrolase-1 enzyme function will be needed to parse out the interrelationships between Mn exposure and young onset PD. Link to story in HealthDay News Link to original article in Neurobiology of Aging Medical Express is reporting on a recently published paper by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health suggesting that vegetables that a diet high in antioxidant nutrients and carotenoids is associated with better function in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients around the time of diagnosis. "It appears that nutrition plays a role both in triggering the disease and why it progresses," said Dr. Nieves.
So these data logically beg the question whether neurotoxic chemicals can hasten disease progression if we accept the accept the observation that nutrition can trigger the disease and play a role in why it progresses. Link to Medical Express story Link to Medline citation for original publication Global Research.org has a report which raises concerns about medication induced mitochondrial damage contributing to risk for dementia. While both recreational and prescription drugs can cause brain damage which can in turn exacerbate the symptoms of AD without being causative it is important to note that chemical-induced dementia (a.k.a., drug-induced dementia) often presents with a pattern of neuropsychological deficits that are different than those seen in AD including a lack of clinical progression of the dementia following cessation of exposure. By contrast AD is a neurodegenerative disease and as such, it progresses relentlessly in the absence of exposure to any recognized chemicals neurotoxicants.
Link to original report 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) commonly known as ecstasy as the chemical name reveals is an amphetamine. A recent story by Alex Pham that appears in BillBoard highlights the risks associated with the use of these drugs. "The most pernicious long-term effect is brain damage. Because MDMA has only been in popular use as a recreational drug since the mid-'80s, researchers are just starting to understand how it affects the brain in the long-term. But there’s increasing evidence to support the likelihood that chronic use of ecstasy causes lasting brain damage. IIf there’s too much neurotransmitters for the body to handle in the way it typically metabolizes those chemicals, the body uses a secondary pathway,” one that can leave toxic metabolites that accumulate over time, said Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman." In fact, a recent study showed that adults who use illicit amphetamines are at increased risk for developing symptoms of parkinsonism and that this is due to damage to the substantia nigra (a brain region known to be involved in idiopathic PD) (Todd et al., 2016).
Link to original news article Link to Todd et al., 2016 A new study by Pinkerton and colleagues published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine suggests that flight attendants are at increased risk for developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Stratification of subjects by exposure duration did not reveal a dose response relationship. Flight attendants are at increased risk for exposures to pesticides, exposure to which has also been implicated as a risk factor for ALS. There was no increase risk for other neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease.
Link to abstract of article in PubMed |
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