Exposure to Home Pesticides Linked to Parkinson Disease
- Joan Stephenson, PhD
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
People exposed to pesticides in the home or garden may have a significantly higher risk of Parkinson disease, according to a new study presented in San Diego last month at the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting.
Although other studies have linked occupational exposure to these chemicals as a risk factor for Parkinson disease, the study is the "largest yet of newly diagnosed people with the illness and the first to show a significant association between home pesticide use and the risk of developing Parkinson's disease," said Lorene Nelson, PhD, a neuroepidemiologist at Stanford University School of Medicine, who presented the findings.
The study involved 496 patients diagnosed with Parkinson disease within the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program of Northern California during the years 1994-1995, and 541 age- and sex-matched controls from the same population.
HOME PESTICIDE USE
Using in-person, structured interviews, members of a research team led by Nelson collected information about …
