[rd42]

Just found out, a friend from elementary, middle, and high school, in my same graduating class of 641 people was diagnosed with PD at 33, and I was at 30.

What are the chances?! Makes me wonder if I should check if there are more PD'rs from my age group and alma maters.

[VICTORIALOU]

Dear rd42
I noticed you are from Peoria Illinois... surrounded by farmland. Also, if from a farm possibly getting your drinking water from a well?
I spent some years in rural Illinois also. I remember how much hemp would grow up between the fields from the old days when there were large hemp fields all over the area.
I know it was reported and acknowledged that paraquat was used by the US to spray the marijuana fields in Mexico... perhaps that is what was used to "control" the marijuana fields in the states as well.
Hard to say, but we know huge quantities of some kinds of chemicals are being used in those fields that surround so many human inhabitants.

New research shows a link between use of two pesticides, rotenone and paraquat, and Parkinson's disease. People who used either pesticide developed Parkinson's disease approximately 2.5 times more often than non-users.

The study was a collaborative effort conducted by researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), which is part of the National Institutes of Health, and the Parkinson's Institute and Clinical Center in Sunnyvale, Calif.

"Rotenone directly inhibits the function of the mitochondria, the structure responsible for making energy in the cell," said Freya Kamel, Ph.D., a researcher in the intramural program at NIEHS and co-author of the paper appearing online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. "Paraquat increases production of certain oxygen derivatives that may harm cellular structures. People who used these pesticides or others with a similar mechanism of action were more likely to develop Parkinson's disease.

The authors studied 110 people with Parkinson's disease and 358 matched controls from the Farming and Movement Evaluation (FAME) Study.
The NIEHS supports research to understand the effects of the environment on human health and is part of NIH.

REFERENCE: Tanner CM, Kamel F, Ross GW, Hoppin JA, Goldman SM, Korell M, Marras C, Bhudhikanok GS, Kasten M, Chade AR, Comyns K, Richards MB, Meng C, Priestly B, Fernandez HH, Cambi F, Umbach DM, Blair A, Sandler DP, Langston JW. 2011. Rotenone, paraquat and Parkinson's disease. Environ Health Perspect; doi:10.1289/ehp.1002839 [Online 26 January 2011].

[rd42]

Thanks for the response Victoria, actually I just moved back home to where I grew up. Marietta, Ga.