Parkinson’s diseases link with exposure to pesticides

 Parkinson’s diseases link with exposure to pesticides

Many countries across the world have adopted use of pesticides in agricultural sectors as a way of improving their productivity. Some of the examples of the pesticides that are used for agricultural purposes, both in-home and public spaces, are herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and organochlorines, among others. Besides public concern over pesticides in many countries like Washington, Canada, and others have stimulated various policies concerning determining and regulating the distribution of some pesticides that are seen toxic to human beings. In contrast, there has been difficulty in determining the safety of these substances.  Many researchers are unable to generalize the results of the studies conducted in the human and animal laboratory. Over the years, the health effects from exposure to pesticides have remained an issue of public concern whereby many researchers have concluded that exposure to pesticides can lead to the neurological disease known as Parkinson while others disagree with this adage.  Therefore this paper tries to look into the use of pesticides in the local community, whether it causes Parkinson’s disease in human beings or not and gives a recommendation based on the outcome.

First, Parkinson’s disease is described as a neurological disorder that affects movement and is characterized by tremor, rigidity, and disturbance in posture. Its early sign is the tremor, and many symptoms emerge as the disorder progresses over time, leading to the severity of the diseases. The confusion was discovered in eighteen century by James Parkinson, and since then, interest to study environmental factors that may be linked with the disorder developed. However, attempts to consider the environmental risk factors of Parkinson’s diseases have limited by the fact that it is not a single disorder that rarely occurs, it is age-related, and its diagnosis is only through clinic criterion. This is not a single disorder because it results from the interactions of many environmental and genetic risk factors. It is common for adults as compared to young people. For one to understand this disorder well and its causes, a case study approach is essential. In my case am going to consider several examples across the world that link Parkinson’s diseases with exposure to pesticides.

The first case is, population-based case-control study to investigate the relationships between the exposure of pesticides and idiopathic Parkinson’s diseases (PD). This research focuses on the interactions between genetic factors and environmental exposures, whereby pesticide had considered as the most critical risk environmental factor for PD.  Therefore population-based case study in Washington state views histories of home-based exposures such as well water and occupational exposures such as farming activities and application of herbicides and insecticides. In this regard, studies have given inconsistent epidemiological evidence that links PD with home-based exposure while giving more consistent results on the occupational exposures.

This study grouped pesticides according to active ingredients chemical class and primary use, and it estimated risks with adjusted odd ratios using regression models. These models included common PD risk factors such as age, gender, and smoking status. Results from this study based on occupational pesticide exposure estimated high risks on the pesticide worker more than crop farmer and dairy farmer; thus, pesticide workers who were usually men had many cases of suffering from PD. Among the classes of chemicals, herbicides and paraquat had modest increases in ORs while parathion had the highest. Based on the home-based pesticide exposure, there were no significant associations, but ORs gradually increased for a living for more than five years since childhood or close to the area where pesticides had sprayed. Also, the use of well water throughout one’s life was associated with increased risk. Therefore this case study out of its finding demonstrated that pesticide exposure was the causal factor of PD, especially in rural areas where there were more agricultural practices. Another population-based case study of Calgary residents, 600 chosen randomly without PD disorder based on age and sex; 130 with the disease still supported the hypothesis that industrial use of pesticides was associated with increased risk of PD. Also, it was found that most men between the age of 20 to 50 were associated with the disease because they mostly worked on a farm where the pesticide had sprayed.

However, numerous case studies have carried out carefully examined based on the population to determine the association of environmental risk factors and PD. Further research was carried on sugarcane and pineapple plantation work to determine whether working on plantation and exposure to pesticides are associated with a risk of PD later. The result of this research showed that people working in plantation for more than ten years increased the risk of PD. Another case study was carried out on Indian patients to investigate environmental and genetic factors associated with PD.  The research had based on demographic data such as rural living, gender, age; family history; onset of the first symptom of PD; exposure to environmental factors such as smoking, pesticides, well water, and finally, occupational exposure. The findings were clear that these factors were associated with PD.

In conclusion, i recommend that the use of pesticides should be regulated or banned since exposure to pesticides is associated with an increased risk of Parkinson’s diseases. From the numerous case studies carried out in humans, it is clear that consumption of well water, exposure to herbicides, and pesticides, living in rural regions where agricultural matters had practiced, was associated with an increased risk of PD. Other researches showed that working on plantations where pesticides are applied, such as sugarcane plantation, increased risk of PD. Finally, based on the findings from the above case studies, it is true that exposure to pesticides is associated with PD.   In order to prevent the spread of PD, the use of pesticides should be banned.