Circle of Parkinson's

In a piece in the New York Times, Nicholas Kristof reports on the link between Parkinson’s Disease and environmental pollutants, specifically pesticides like paraquat.

According to Kristof:

• Some 90,000 cases of Parkinson’s are now diagnosed each year in the United States, about one every six minutes.

• It is the world’s fastest-growing neurodegenerative disease, causing tremors, stiffness and balance problems.

• (T)here’s growing evidence linking it to a range of pesticides and industrial chemicals, including paraquat and substances used in dry cleaning.

• The Environmental Protection Agency continues to allow paraquat to be used in the United States — even as dozens of other countries have banned it.

• Just this year, a study found that living within a mile of a golf course more than doubles a person’s odds of developing Parkinson’s. One theory is that it is because golf courses use pesticides.

• Paradoxically, most of the paraquat used in the United States is manufactured in Britain and China — where it cannot legally be used. But it’s fine to produce it there and sell it to America, where regulation is more lax.

There’s a lot more relevant information in this article. Because I’ve written extensively on pesticides and I also have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, people sometimes ask me what I think about this link.

Well, I’m not a scientist but from the evidence I’ve reviewed paraquat should have banned decades ago. If our government had decided to err on the side of caution, paraquat would have been out of lives — and our central nervous systems a long, long time ago.

For more information on this topic, there’s a new book, “The Parkinson’s Plan.”

Thanks to Doug for alerting me to this piece and to Leslie for access to Times content. Thanks to my subscribers!

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