[Conductor71]

I ran across this when researching for a reply I was writing for the BBB thread, but thought the study deserved its own special place given that is the largest PD epidemiology in the US ever completed...

Dating from last month, please see these alarming results from a longitudinal study (2000-2005) of later onset PD which is key because it is thought that toxins may play a bigger role than genetics in this group. Particularly disturbing is the map and results published by Neuroepidemiology and shared via Washington University that shows an extremely high prevalence of PD in the Midwest and Northeast. Either we have some very strong correlations here with pesticides and air pollution, or proximity to Canada is extremely toxic

Ron and Rick have amassed an amazing amount of research to support their very sound theories on contributing factors of PD. I have my fledgling idea here to add to the mix as it relates to the BBB.

One of my pet theories has been MMT, the anti-knock additive added to replace lead in gasoline, produced by the Afton Corp. The main atom and the middle "M" stands for Manganese. Those of us who know Parkinsonism know that inhaled Manganese results in a degenerative neuro disorder, that although easily arrested in very early states, looks exactly like Idiopathic Parkinson's once motor symptoms emerge and ends as an irreversible disorder. Here are the interesting pieces to the puzzle (facts and research)- please forgive, though I have research on all this, I am working on organizing so don't have all the citations in order.

-MMT has been used in gasoline since 1974; it is emitted from tailpipes as a fine particulate and accumulates in ground around us.
-Once inhaled, manganese readily enters the brain through the olfactory vagus supporting Braak's theory that PD may begin there.
-MMT readily crosses the BBB with no requisite need for increased permeability; studies show that it is transported by a calcium channel and that it is a slow process.
-Children have more permeable BBB due to nascent formation; while the elderly and people with neurological disorders have increased permeability.
-The EPA warns that Manganese is a neurotoxin and they do not know long term effects of chronic exposure in air pollution on humans; they instead defer to the Afton Corp. requesting that they complete some research.
-Research in highly polluted areas like Mexico City and in a very specific population of Italian citizens living downwind from a Manganese Plant, show clear motor signs, albeit mild, of Parkinsonism- Mainly slowness in performing finger tapping and alternating movements.

Further neurological findings from a 2008 study in the Repiratory Journal:

Traffic-related air pollution, basically urban outdoor pollution, is a global public health problem. Cardiorespiratory effects and mechanisms have been fully investigated. In contrast, little is known regarding neurological effects, with only some preliminary evidence. In rats, ultrafine carbon particles have been found in the olfactory bulb and the cerebrum and cerebellum after inhalation exposure 6; this finding has been reproduced more recently with manganese particles directly translocated to the olfactory nerve from the nose to the brain 7.

In one study, dogs living in a highly polluted region in Mexico City (Mexico) had an increase in brain inflammation compared with animals living in a less polluted area 8. The brain tissue of animals from Mexico City had higher levels of nuclear factor-{kappa}B activation and nitric oxide production, as well as the principal pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-{alpha}, compared with the animals from the nonpolluted area 9. In a study on human autopsies in Mexico City, exposure to severe air pollution has been associated with increased levels of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 and accumulation of the 42-amino-acid form of β-amyloid, a cause of neuronal dysfunction 10.

Organizations like the Physicians for Social Responsibility are calling for a withdrawal of the license to use this noxious stuff and several University research centres are studying MMT toxicology in earnest. The EPA still kindly asks the Afton Corp to produce research on chronic exposure.

Well, I could go on with research that at best could be circumstantial evidence in a court trial, but you get the picture. In 1974, I was one of those children with an unformed BBB.

Laura