Understanding Parkinson’s disease

The biggest single risk factor associated with contracting Parkinson’s disease is old age; men also stand a higher chance of it than do women. Family history is also another factor particularly when a first generation family member has the disease, if this family member is a parent or sibling then chances are estimated to double for yourself to developing the disease. It is thought that this increased risk is due to a number of factors including genetic and environmental which close relations have in common.

The one single factor which has been most consistently associated with a reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease is smoking, the exact reasons for this has never been determined but smoking does seem to offer some protection against developing Parkinson’s disease. However the negative effects that smoking has on our health far outweighs the benefit of not developing Parkinson’s from smoking, it should by no means be considered as a way of preventing the disease.

Environmental causes of Parkinson’s disease

Most cases of Parkinson’s disease are thought to come about as a result of environmental factors and possible interactions of genes. Environmental factors such as the build up of weak toxins may eventually lead to Parkinson’s in those people who are genetically predisposed. The actual identity of these toxins is unknown but several risk factors due to the environment have been identified through epidemiological studies.

One factor that is persistent however is the finding that rural living, exposure to drinking water from wells and agricultural work increases the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. This could suggest that pesticides and herbicides might play a crucial role or at the very least contribute to the development of the disease.

However it should be remembered all these factors by no means will determine that you will develop Parkinson’s disease because many people who are constantly confronted with these factors never do develop the illness.

The role genetics play

While there are several genes that are thought to contribute to Parkinson’s disease it should be noted that they are a factor which only accounts for a very small amount of the cases diagnosed. One of the most noted genes is called the parkin; this gene creates a protein which it was named after, parkin.

Its role is to help breakdown defective proteins inside the brain cells, when the gene is altered this leads to function impairment. For a person to develop Parkinson’s disease two altered copies of parkin are needed.

This type of inheritance is called autosomal recessive and requires that one copy of the recessive gene is inherited from each parent. Developing Parkinson’s disease this way usually occurs with people in their 40`s, with parkin being the most common of genetic causes of Parkinson’s disease.