Severe flu doubles odds of developing Parkinson's
Sunday July 22, 2012 12:04:57 PM, IANS
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Toronto: Severe flu
doubles the odds of your developing Parkinson's disease later in
life, say researchers.
However, the reverse holds true for those who got infected with
red measles as children. They are 35 percent less likely to
develop Parkinson's, a nervous system disorder marked by slowness
of movement, shaking, stiffness, and in the later stages, loss of
balance.
The findings from the University of British Columbia (UBC's)
School of Population and Public Health and the Pacific Parkinson's
Research Centre are based on interviews with 403 Parkinson's
patients and 405 healthy people in Canada.
Anne Harris from UBC who led the study also examined whether
occupational exposure to vibrations -- such as operating
construction equipment -- had any effect on the risk of
Parkinson's, according to an UBC statement.
"There are no cures or prevention programmes for Parkinson's, in
part because we still don't understand what triggers it in some
people and not in others," says Harris, who conducted the research
while earning her doctorate at UBC.
In another study, published by the American Journal of
Epidemiology, she and her collaborators reported that occupational
exposure actually decreased the risk of developing the disease by
33 percent, compared to people whose jobs involved no exposure.
Meanwhile, Harris found that those exposed to high-intensity
vibrations -- for example, by driving snow-mobiles, battle tanks
or high-speed boats -- had a consistently higher risk of
developing Parkinson's than people whose jobs involved
lower-intensity vibrations (for example, operating road vehicles).
Parkinson's results when brain cells that make the
neurotransmitter dopamine are destroyed, preventing the brain from
transmitting messages to muscles. The disease typically strikes
people aged over 50.
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