Pesticide exposure increases risk of Parkinson’s disease, study says
A new study from researchers at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland concludes that pesticide exposure increases the risk of getting Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative condition affecting the nervous system. Patients from five European countries participated in the study, published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, which found that people who had been exposed to low levels of pesticides were 13 percent more likely to develop Parkinson’s than those who had not, and those exposed to high levels of pesticides, such as farmers or pesticide-factory workers, faced a 41 percent higher risk. Last year, a comprehensive Harvard study also found a connection between elevated risk and regular exposure to pesticides. The Aberdeen study noted that Parkinson’s risk could also increase due to head trauma. Getting knocked out once increased risk some 35 percent and getting knocked out twice or more increased it by more than two times. See, it never pays to leave the padded cell.
