Medical Research Targets Protecting And Regenerating Dopamine Producing Cells To Treat Parkinson's Disease

Inhaling paraquat fumes may be the cause of farmers and others developing Parkinson's disease

Monday, August 16, 2021 - Developments in the field of treating Parkinson's disease are welcome news to farmers, farmworkers, and others that have inhaled paraquat and developed the deadly neurological disorder. Biotech firms in Europe have addressed preventing Parkinson's by banning paraquat, but also the needs of those who were unable to avoid being inflicted. The number of cases of Parkinson's disease is growing exponentially all over the world, and in particular, in the United States where farmers are allowed to spray unlimited quantities of the defoliant virtually unrestricted. There are around one and one half million cases of Parkinson's disease in the US today. That number is growing by about 60,000 or more each year. Respected medical researchers are on record for voicing their concern that the number of cases of Parkinson's disease has doubled in the last twenty years and will, no doubt, double again in the next ten. There are now many more cases of Parkinson's disease than Altzeheimers in the US. Paraquat and other industrial pesticides are thought to be a major contributor to the explosion in the number of Parkinson's patients. Farmers and others with Paraquat Parkinson's disease blame the toxic chemical for their condition.

While developments in treating Parkinson's disease have made strides, the condition is still considered permanent and irreversible. According to Labiotech.eu (LT), "Currently, there is no cure for Parkinson’s. Treatments such as physiotherapy, medication, and, in some cases, surgery are only able to alleviate symptoms and maintain quality of life. Farmers with Parkinson's are consulting Paraquat lawyers to see if they qualify to file a complaint against the makers of the chemical. Levodopa is one of the main Parkinson’s treatments in use; it increases the levels of dopamine in the brain to address the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s." Inhaling paraquat fumes either during application to rows of oat, corn, or soybeans or by the paraquat-polluted air that has drifted onto nearby neighborhoods, has been proven to affect the olfactory or smell sensors directly in the brain and impair dopamine production. Research funding from the Michael J. Fox Foundation has been granted to startup companies that seek to invent treatments for Parkinson's root cause. "The treatment targets a protein on the mitochondria’s inner membrane that is involved in the death of dopamine-producing cells," says LT.

Dopamine is a chemical called a neurotransmitter that facilitates the exchange of information between brain cells that govern movement and coordination. Paraquat aerosol spray that is inhaled goes directly into the olfactory system in the brain and kills or mutates the cells that produce dopamine. "Parkinson's disease symptoms mainly result from low or falling levels of dopamine," according to Medical News Today (MNT). Parkinson's News Today (PNT) has published the results of a scientific study that has concluded that mice that have inhaled paraquat have lost their sense of smell, confirming the effect of the chemical on the brain. Researchers attempted to duplicate the continuous, low-level air paraquat air pollution that occurs throughout neighborhoods that surround farms that spray the deadly defoliant. "Prolonged, low-level inhalation of the common weed-killer paraquat, implicated in the risk of Parkinson’s disease, caused male mice to lose at least some of their sense of smell, a study reports. This work also supported previous studies showing the inhaled chemical enters the brain via the olfactory nerve. As such, it may help in establishing more accurate risk assessments when setting herbicide limits to protect the public."

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