Parkinson's Increases With Pesticide Exposure
Evidence continues to mount for pesticide exposure as a contributor to Parkinson's disease. The latest study compared Parkinson's patients and controls living in California's heavily agricultural Central Valley. Exposure to ziram and paraquat was associated with an 80% increase in risk, and the addition of maneb tripled the risk. Risk was greater with exposure in the workplace than at the residence, and exposure in both locations further increased the risk. The researchers suggest that combinations of different pesticides have a greater effect than a single pesticide because they affect different mechanisms leading to dopaminergic cell death. European Journal of Epidemiology, DOI 10.1007/s10654-011-9574-5.
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A New Drug for Multiple Sclerosis
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug for treating relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, the most common form of the disease. Unlike other drugs for MS, fingolimod (trade name Gilenya) can be taken in pill form rather than having to be injected. The drug, which manipulates the immune system, reduced relapse rate by 62% in newly diagnosed patients and by 44% in previously treated patients. CNN Health, September 22, 2010.