Rick, thanks for pointing me at your data giving PD rates state by state.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread149766.html
(Rick, have you got a reference for the data? I'd like to know the details.)
This allowed me to do some simple statistical analysis. The map by Baddley shows the incidence of histoplasmosis by shading each state in one of six bands. I did the stats in two ways:
- based on the number of the band, the correlation between histoplasmosis rates and PD rates is 0.36 (which implies that it accounts for 13% of the variance), significant, p<0.005;
- based on the value of the centre point of each band, the correlation is 0.31 (10% of the variance), significant, p<0.013.
This suggests to me that the connection between the two diseases is real, but not the whole story.
(By saying there is a connection, I am not implying causality.)
Laura, you're right we discussed running a survey of PwP to hold, amongst other things, geographical information. I still believe this would be very useful, but only if we got a substantial number of replies, at least 1000, say. But, given the experience of the Handedness Survey, which currently has had about 90 replies, I'm not optimistic.
Michael, I haven't adjusted for time: I don't have the data. But, still, it's a question worth asking. Your reference, mentions TNF-alpha in many places. Perhaps this suggests a solution to the problem I posed in my first post: how do we explain the fact that PD prevalence rates are similar in the UK, where histoplasmosis is rare? We have our own set of fungi. Perhaps TNF-alpha is the common denominator.
There are a few cases on the web of antifungals leading to a reduction of Parkinson's symptoms. See:
http://forum.parkinson.org/index.php...al-medication/
However, the connection may not be causal: sickness of any kind seems to make the symptoms of PD worse; so reducing the other sickness is likely to reduce the PD symptoms.
Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clioquinol
reports that clioquinol, an antifungal drug, has in animal studies reversed the progression of PD.
Has anyone on this forum had histoplasmosis?
Has anyone here used an antifungal? Did you notice any change in your PD symptoms?
John