Anyone believe they may be part of, or have knowledge of a 'cluster' of Parkinson's cases? Speaking to my mum last week, she told me two other guys who grew up in our street back in the 1970s/80s have been diagnosed with PD in their 50s. I was diagnosed three years ago aged 49.
The area I grew up in is close to an old chemical plant, and the company were known to have dumped waste (including Chromium-6 amongst other things) onto patches of nearby ground. Incredibly, some of these waste sites were turned into football pitches with no clean up operation. They were later condemned, cleaned up (supposedly) and turned into housing developments.
Pretty hard thing to prove, and the future is more important than the past, but interested if anyone has related experiences/thoughts?
Best wishes to all,
Andy
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AndyMu72
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There have been articles about exposure to toxic chemicals being an issue particularly the chemical used in dry cleaning and with continuing research it seems very likely that many other chemicals will be identified that contribute to the increase in cases.
My first thought would be is there any possibility that you could find records of the clean up by googling the name of the plant or the location and then go from there.
Nine years ago, on the old NeuroTalk forum, I wrote a post on how to identify clusters. This suggested that true clusters are harder to find than one would expect. Rather, they are the result of post-hoc analysis.
G, #PwP
3, 3
10, 4
100, 6
1000, 11
10000, 39
100000, 244
To make it clear as to how to read this table look at the row 100, 6. This means that if you have an unbiased group of size 100, you need at least 6 PwP in the group to claim it is a cluster.
I would not be a bit surprised if you were affected. We now all live in a toxic environment. I spent my early years on a farm where my father went crazy with really bad pesticides. Would use his bare arm to mix the chemicals. He died at 59 of motor neuron disease. Add cattle dip to the mix. I am into my 15th year. And not doing so well currently. My brother suggested if my pd was related to poisons why did he not have pd? He has emphysema and research has revealed that science is considering toxins in the environment as a possible cause. I personally believe that depending on your genetics, that toxins will affect people one way or another, eg cancer neurological issues and so on. Mix of nature and nurture.I ran a support group for a number of years in the country and most of our pders had been on the land working with chemicals. Some were diagnosed eventually with neurological issues worse than pd eg PSP, Lewey body dementia, motor neuron.
A friend of mine is currently dealing with neurological issues related to his past work as a Metallurgist. It's a hazardous world out there.
So sorry to hear you were so young when diagnosed. I think you’ve hit the nail on the head regarding the chemical plant.
1. Where we lived over 24 years ago we used to see the crop dusters flying over the nearby hills and dropping their poisons on the banana plantations.
Years later the man across the road was diagnosed with PD, they sold their house then the new owner was diagnosed, then my husband! This is 3 doors up from the local primary school. Another man that now goes to the same PD Warrior class as my husband used to live the other side of the school. Just coincidental? I hope so, for the sake of the children at the school!
2. Our friend’s husband was in the navy and so was her sister’s husband. Her husband passed away a couple of years ago (aged 70) from CBD (Cortico Basal Degeneration) and her brother-in-law passed away several years ago with MND.
Our friend went to a navy reunion last year and said approximately 50% had either passed away or were suffering from cancer or some neurodegenerative disease. I have been told the toxins are in the paint they use on the ships (?)
Look up the documentary movie "Love Canal" a Neighbourhood section of Niagara Falls New York . The company there was Hooker Chemicals and it took a decree from President Jimmy Carter in response to activists fight for action and then it was still mostly covered up.
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