Parkinson’s and Pesticides

[marmar]

from Civil Eats:


Parkinson’s and Pesticides
By Alex Formuzis on January 17, 2013


Environmental Working Group President Ken Cook often points out that many pesticides that were once liberally sprayed on food crops and considered perfectly safe turn out to be anything but – after farm workers and consumers have been exposed to them for years.

Earlier this week, while Lindsay Lohan’s latest legal woes were trending on Google News, an important study that got little attention in the media gave a big boost to Ken’s argument. A team of neurologists at the University of California, Los Angeles demonstrated an unsettling link between Parkinson’s disease and exposure to a fungicide, called benomyl, that was used for decades on a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and nuts before being discontinued in 2001. The UCLA team published its findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Early symptoms of Parkinson’s, which afflicts millions, include difficulty walking, muscle tremors and trouble moving at a normal rate. As the disease progresses, people can develop behavioral and emotional problems, including dementia, memory loss, depression and hallucinations.

The UCLA study had three parts. First, the scientists showed that in a lab dish, benomyl damages or destroys neurons in the brain that produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter that brain cells use to communicate. Parkinson’s – a degenerative disease that afflicts millions – has been linked to cell damage in a part of the brain that produces dopamine. .....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://civileats.com/2013/01/17/parkinsons-and-pesticides/

[gateley]

1. I doubt the list stops with Parkinson's. How can it be "safe" to ingest poison meant to kill

parasites and bugs? We may breathe a sigh of relief that they finally discontinued using it, but what's on all our food now that's currently deemed safe?

Parkinson's is a heartbreaking affliction. That's what my father died from, and it was tough for him and tough for us to see him suffer like that.

Thanks for posting this!

[Voice for Peace]

2. yes yes yes

poison=bad

[Confusious]

6. Not that I like pesticides

But different species have different cellular functions. Bugs are different from Humans.

That's why some species have diseases that don't affect humans.

[gateley]

7. I have to agree with that. Maybe it just comes down to I don't trust "them" when

they tell me it's safe.

[Confusious]

11. No reason we should

I think there should be years, maybe 5, maybe 10, of testing on everything they can think of before they release them.

[jwirr]

3. Interesting. I have two relatives from the 1920s to 950s who had it and two more from the late

1800s to the early 1920s. Recently my brother and sister have had these symptoms but the doctors insist it cannot be parkinson's because it is not on both sides. All were either farmers or raised in farm country.

[Sunlei]

4. I think of old President Bush /w Parkinson’s in his legs and all the brush clearing on his ranch.

They spray a lot of those chemicals to clear brush, weeds and treat livestock.

[Confusious]

5. The problem with that

Benomyl wasn't introduced until 1968.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benomyl

[jwirr]

8. Especially with at least two being no were near the modern chemicals we are talking about. This is

more evidence for genetics than anything else.

[Confusious]

10. Yea, genetics suck

I got a cholesterol problem from my dad, the bastard!

[farminator3000]

9. the ones we have now are even more dangerous- RoundUp, Chloratihinol blah blah organophophates

Glyphosate induced cell death through apoptotic and autophagic mechanisms

Abstract

Herbicides have been recognized as the main environmental factor associated with human neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease(PD). Previous studies indicated that the exposure to glyphosate, a widely used herbicide, is possibly linked to Parkinsonism, however the underlying mechanism remains unclear. We investigated the neurotoxic effects of glyphosate in differentiated PC12 cells and discovered that it inhibited viability of differentiated PC12 cells in dose-and time-dependent manners. Furthermore, the results showed that glyphosate induced cell death via autophagy pathways in addition to activating apoptotic pathways. Interestingly, deactivation of Beclin-1 gene attenuated both apoptosis and autophagy in glyphosate treated differentiated PC12 cells, suggesting that Beclin-1 gene is involved in the crosstalk between the two mechanisms.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0892036212000438

[farminator3000]

12. not just benomyl- also, paraquat, rotenone, maneb, ziram and ????

rotenone is organic, so WATCH OUT, everybody!!

http://www.nih.gov/news/health/feb2011/niehs-11.htm

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http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/high-risk-of-parkinson-s-disease-204133.aspx

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http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/pesticides-and-parkinson-s-more-242364.aspx

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http://www.news-medical.net/news/2006/06/14/18453.aspx