Re: CAN LOW LEVEL EXPOSURE TO OCHRATOXIN-A CAUSE PARKINSONISM

[Guest guest]

I couldn't get your link to work but I did find this old New York

Times article about J. Fox. I believe more had been written

about him and possible environmental causes, but can't look for them

at this moment.

Mulvey son

May 14, 2002

Parkinson's `Clusters' Getting a Closer Look

By MARY DUENWALD

ichael J. Fox's celebrity can do more than raise money for

Parkinson's research. It may also help open an avenue of research

that scientists have long wanted to explore.

Mr. Fox, it turns out, was one of four people who worked on a

production crew at a television studio in Vancouver, British

Columbia, in the late 1970's and developed Parkinson's disease. Given

that only 125 people worked on the crew in those years — including

actors, directors, writers, production people and technicians — the

number of cases seems extraordinary.

It is possible that the cluster of cases arose purely from chance.

But researchers are interested in studying them in hopes they will

lead to clues to possible environmental factors or even viruses that

may contribute to the disease.

Typically, Parkinson's disease afflicts one in 300 people. In people

as young as J. Fox, 30 when the disease was diagnosed in

1991, the illness is much rarer. Fewer than 5 percent of Parkinson's

patients develop symptoms before age 50, said Dr. Caroline Tanner of

the Parkinson's Institute. The Vancouver cluster includes Mr. Fox and

a woman who learned she had Parkinson's at age 38.

The four people worked together from 1976 to 1980, when it is

possible that the disease began in all of them. Parkinson's

progresses gradually, taking 5 to 10 years from the time it starts to

the appearance of the first symptoms — usually, rigidity in an arm or

leg or tremor in a hand.

Dr. Calne, director of the neurodegenerative disorders center

at the University of British Columbia, estimates that the odds of the

four cases occurring at the same time in such a small group of people

are less than 1 in 1,000.

He and other scientists say the cluster warrants investigation.

" I would definitely want to look further, " said Dr. J.

Langston, director of the Parkinson's Institute in Sunnyvale, Calif.,

and chief scientific adviser to the J. Fox Foundation for

Parkinson's Research.

Dr. Katrina Gwinn-Hardy, a Parkinson's specialist at the National

Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, said, " It's

intriguing and worth pursuing. "

Mr. Fox said he was curious about the cluster, out of both empathy

for the people he worked with and because, as he put it, " the

beginning of my career and the end of my career being tied in a

single event is pretty cosmic or weird to me. "

But whether the cluster should be investigated, he said, is a

question he leaves to the judgment of scientists.

Clusters of Parkinson's cases occur from time to time, when, for

example, a number of people in a neighborhood or small town develop

the disease. But they often go unnoticed or are ignored because

scientists lack the time and money to look into them. In this case,

the publicity surrounding Mr. Fox's admission that he had

Parkinson's, nearly three and half years ago, drew the cases into the

spotlight.

Don S. , who directed Mr. Fox in two Canadian situation

comedies beginning when the actor was 16, and who also has

Parkinson's, tried to get in touch with Mr. Fox soon after reading

the news. " But I couldn't get past his handlers, " he said.

Mr. (also a cast member of " The X Files " for four years)

learned of his illness nine years ago, when he was 55.

Sally Gardner, whose Parkinson's was diagnosed when she was 38, in

1984, had been a script supervisor in the late 1970's, and had worked

with Mr. Fox and Mr. . The fourth member of the cluster, a

cameraman who has kept his identity secret, was recently found by

Jerry , writer and director of a Canadian television

documentary about Mr. Fox and Parkinson's disease. The cameraman's

diagnosis came at age 54.

's documentary, " The Parkinson's Enigma, " which was broadcast

last month, publicized the cluster's existence.

Could something at the television studio have caused the disease in

all four people? Dr. Calne, Dr. Langston and other experts believe it

could have. Perhaps something they breathed or ate or drank — a

toxin, perhaps, or an infectious agent — set the disease process in

motion.

" If this is a genuine cluster and not a statistical fluke, " said Dr.

Oliver Sacks, a neurologist and writer, " it would certainly suggest

an environmental agent at work. "

The mystery is especially compelling because scientists do not know

what causes most cases of Parkinson's. Most believe that both genetic

and environmental factors are at work. " We often say that maybe

people have some gene that predisposes them to be susceptible to any

number of things in the environment, " said Dr. J. Weiner,

chairman of neurology department at the University of land School

of Medicine. " But's that's probably just another way of saying we

don't know the cause. "

The disease occurs when cells in the substantia nigra, a darkly

pigmented part of the midbrain, about half the size of an adult index

fingernail, start to die off. These cells produce dopamine, a

chemical messenger that is essential for normal muscle movement. The

cell death occurs gradually, and that is why Parkinson's can go

unnoticed so long.

Once dopamine production declines by about 80 percent, the patient

begins to experience the four classic symptoms: tremor, stiffness,

slow movement and problems with walking, posture and balance. In some

cases, the cell death is set off by genetic mutations. Scientists

have identified two genes that are involved in Parkinson's disease

and have pinpointed the locations of four others.

But Parkinson's does not seem to be primarily a genetic disorder. It

runs in the families of only about 10 percent to 15 percent of

patients, Dr. Tanner of the Parkinson's Institute said. A large study

she conducted indicated that the identical twins of Parkinson's

patients are no more likely to have the disease than fraternal twins —

a sign that the disease is not largely genetic.

Environmental agents have also been known to create Parkinson's

symptoms. In the era of World War I, for example, some people who had

contracted the virus that causes sleeping sickness later developed

what came to be known as post-encephalitic parkinsonism, a

particularly severe disorder that left people in trancelike states.

Dr. Sacks's book " Awakenings " told how these patients were able to

regain movement when he treated them with levodopa, a drug that is

still the main treatment in Parkinson's. (Levodopa, also known as L-

dopa, is converted to dopamine in the brain.)

It is possible that a virus could also have been involved in the so-

called Fox cluster. " It is important to look for infectious as well

as toxic agents, " Dr. Sacks said.

Dr. Calne suspects a virus may indeed have caused the Parkinson's

cases in Vancouver. " In many areas of medicine it is fully accepted

that there are several types of cause for one type of disorder, " he

said. " For example, everyone recognized that cancer can be caused by

genes, chemical agents or infective agents. In the field of

neurodegeneration, people are often reluctant to draw the same

general conclusion, in spite of compelling evidence. "

Perhaps, Dr. Calne said, Parkinson's can be caused by a single event,

when an infection or a toxic substance attacks cells in the

substantia nigra. Some cells are killed instantly; others are injured

and die off over time, causing the patient's symptoms to worsen

progressively.

The idea that viruses can cause Parkinson's, he said, is bolstered by

evidence that the disease has been somewhat more prevalent among

people who have worked in certain fields, including teachers,

doctors, dentists, nurses, loggers and miners. These people all had

relatively high exposure to infections — teachers and doctors because

of the people they worked with and loggers and miners because they

slept in close quarters in work camps.

Mr. does not recall any particular illness he suffered while

working on the television production crew. " You know what it's like

with flu and colds and things; they're not outstanding events, " he

said.

Toxins can also set off parkinsonism, as doctors learned in 1983,

when seven young adults in the San Francisco Bay Area suddenly

developed symptoms. Dr. Langston examined this cluster of patients

and learned that they all had injected themselves with a synthetic

form of heroin that contained the toxic molecule MPTP. The MPTP

killed large numbers of the victims' dopamine-producing cells.

Dr. Calne has already been in touch with the production studio about

starting an investigation in the cluster. " I'm not optimistic about

finding a cause after all this time, " he said, " but I think we might

be able to find some features of the circumstances that might be

helpful. I think we'd be derelict in our responsibility if we ignored

this. "

Already, Dr. Calne believes he may have one intriguing clue. The

production studio, a largely underground structure in downtown

Vancouver, is heavily insulated because of the need to block out

sound.

" Obviously the air circulation is very tight, " Dr. Calne said. " And

so if there was anything in the environment, there may have been a

bigger risk of that being recirculated to an extent that might

amplify risk. "

Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company | Permissions | Privacy

Policy

> http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL & _udi=B6T06-

4KDBMCW-

> 5 & _coverDate=07%2F14%

>

2F2006 & _alid=434439079 & _rdoc=1 & _fmt= & _orig=search & _qd=1 & _cdi=4854 & _sor

t=

>

d & view=c & _acct=C000050221 & _version=1 & _urlVersion=0 & _userid=10 & md5=18be

e2

> d69a128b09478774fdc0ca43f7#FCANote

> <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL & _udi=B6T06-

4KDBMCW-

> 5 & _coverDate=07%2F14%

>

2F2006 & _alid=434439079 & _rdoc=1 & _fmt= & _orig=search & _qd=1 & _cdi=4854 & _sor

t=

>

d & view=c & _acct=C000050221 & _version=1 & _urlVersion=0 & _userid=10 & md5=18be

e2

> d69a128b09478774fdc0ca43f7>)

>

[Guest guest]

sorry, heres another link, scroll down for that abstract.

http://www.biojournals.com/aflatoxins.html

also, thanks for that article, it was very

interesting.

>

> I couldn't get your link to work but I did find this old New York

> Times article about J. Fox. I believe more had been written

> about him and possible environmental causes, but can't look for

them

> at this moment.

>

> Mulvey son

>

>

>

>

> May 14, 2002

>

> Parkinson's `Clusters' Getting a Closer Look

>

> By MARY DUENWALD

>

> ichael J. Fox's celebrity can do more than raise money for

> Parkinson's research. It may also help open an avenue of research

> that scientists have long wanted to explore.

>

> Mr. Fox, it turns out, was one of four people who worked on a

> production crew at a television studio in Vancouver, British

> Columbia, in the late 1970's and developed Parkinson's disease.

Given

> that only 125 people worked on the crew in those years — including

> actors, directors, writers, production people and technicians — the

> number of cases seems extraordinary.

>

> It is possible that the cluster of cases arose purely from chance.

> But researchers are interested in studying them in hopes they will

> lead to clues to possible environmental factors or even viruses

that

> may contribute to the disease.

>

> Typically, Parkinson's disease afflicts one in 300 people. In

people

> as young as J. Fox, 30 when the disease was diagnosed in

> 1991, the illness is much rarer. Fewer than 5 percent of

Parkinson's

> patients develop symptoms before age 50, said Dr. Caroline Tanner

of

> the Parkinson's Institute. The Vancouver cluster includes Mr. Fox

and

> a woman who learned she had Parkinson's at age 38.

>

> The four people worked together from 1976 to 1980, when it is

> possible that the disease began in all of them. Parkinson's

> progresses gradually, taking 5 to 10 years from the time it starts

to

> the appearance of the first symptoms — usually, rigidity in an arm

or

> leg or tremor in a hand.

>

> Dr. Calne, director of the neurodegenerative disorders

center

> at the University of British Columbia, estimates that the odds of

the

> four cases occurring at the same time in such a small group of

people

> are less than 1 in 1,000.

>

> He and other scientists say the cluster warrants investigation.

>

> " I would definitely want to look further, " said Dr. J.

> Langston, director of the Parkinson's Institute in Sunnyvale,

Calif.,

> and chief scientific adviser to the J. Fox Foundation for

> Parkinson's Research.

>

> Dr. Katrina Gwinn-Hardy, a Parkinson's specialist at the National

> Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, said, " It's

> intriguing and worth pursuing. "

>

> Mr. Fox said he was curious about the cluster, out of both empathy

> for the people he worked with and because, as he put it, " the

> beginning of my career and the end of my career being tied in a

> single event is pretty cosmic or weird to me. "

>

> But whether the cluster should be investigated, he said, is a

> question he leaves to the judgment of scientists.

>

> Clusters of Parkinson's cases occur from time to time, when, for

> example, a number of people in a neighborhood or small town develop

> the disease. But they often go unnoticed or are ignored because

> scientists lack the time and money to look into them. In this case,

> the publicity surrounding Mr. Fox's admission that he had

> Parkinson's, nearly three and half years ago, drew the cases into

the

> spotlight.

>

> Don S. , who directed Mr. Fox in two Canadian situation

> comedies beginning when the actor was 16, and who also has

> Parkinson's, tried to get in touch with Mr. Fox soon after reading

> the news. " But I couldn't get past his handlers, " he said.

>

> Mr. (also a cast member of " The X Files " for four years)

> learned of his illness nine years ago, when he was 55.

>

> Sally Gardner, whose Parkinson's was diagnosed when she was 38, in

> 1984, had been a script supervisor in the late 1970's, and had

worked

> with Mr. Fox and Mr. . The fourth member of the cluster, a

> cameraman who has kept his identity secret, was recently found by

> Jerry , writer and director of a Canadian television

> documentary about Mr. Fox and Parkinson's disease. The cameraman's

> diagnosis came at age 54.

>

> 's documentary, " The Parkinson's Enigma, " which was

broadcast

> last month, publicized the cluster's existence.

>

> Could something at the television studio have caused the disease in

> all four people? Dr. Calne, Dr. Langston and other experts believe

it

> could have. Perhaps something they breathed or ate or drank — a

> toxin, perhaps, or an infectious agent — set the disease process in

> motion.

>

> " If this is a genuine cluster and not a statistical fluke, " said

Dr.

> Oliver Sacks, a neurologist and writer, " it would certainly suggest

> an environmental agent at work. "

>

> The mystery is especially compelling because scientists do not know

> what causes most cases of Parkinson's. Most believe that both

genetic

> and environmental factors are at work. " We often say that maybe

> people have some gene that predisposes them to be susceptible to

any

> number of things in the environment, " said Dr. J. Weiner,

> chairman of neurology department at the University of land

School

> of Medicine. " But's that's probably just another way of saying we

> don't know the cause. "

>

> The disease occurs when cells in the substantia nigra, a darkly

> pigmented part of the midbrain, about half the size of an adult

index

> fingernail, start to die off. These cells produce dopamine, a

> chemical messenger that is essential for normal muscle movement.

The

> cell death occurs gradually, and that is why Parkinson's can go

> unnoticed so long.

>

> Once dopamine production declines by about 80 percent, the patient

> begins to experience the four classic symptoms: tremor, stiffness,

> slow movement and problems with walking, posture and balance. In

some

> cases, the cell death is set off by genetic mutations. Scientists

> have identified two genes that are involved in Parkinson's disease

> and have pinpointed the locations of four others.

>

> But Parkinson's does not seem to be primarily a genetic disorder.

It

> runs in the families of only about 10 percent to 15 percent of

> patients, Dr. Tanner of the Parkinson's Institute said. A large

study

> she conducted indicated that the identical twins of Parkinson's

> patients are no more likely to have the disease than fraternal

twins —

> a sign that the disease is not largely genetic.

>

> Environmental agents have also been known to create Parkinson's

> symptoms. In the era of World War I, for example, some people who

had

> contracted the virus that causes sleeping sickness later developed

> what came to be known as post-encephalitic parkinsonism, a

> particularly severe disorder that left people in trancelike states.

> Dr. Sacks's book " Awakenings " told how these patients were able to

> regain movement when he treated them with levodopa, a drug that is

> still the main treatment in Parkinson's. (Levodopa, also known as L-

> dopa, is converted to dopamine in the brain.)

>

> It is possible that a virus could also have been involved in the so-

> called Fox cluster. " It is important to look for infectious as well

> as toxic agents, " Dr. Sacks said.

>

> Dr. Calne suspects a virus may indeed have caused the Parkinson's

> cases in Vancouver. " In many areas of medicine it is fully accepted

> that there are several types of cause for one type of disorder, " he

> said. " For example, everyone recognized that cancer can be caused

by

> genes, chemical agents or infective agents. In the field of

> neurodegeneration, people are often reluctant to draw the same

> general conclusion, in spite of compelling evidence. "

>

> Perhaps, Dr. Calne said, Parkinson's can be caused by a single

event,

> when an infection or a toxic substance attacks cells in the

> substantia nigra. Some cells are killed instantly; others are

injured

> and die off over time, causing the patient's symptoms to worsen

> progressively.

>

> The idea that viruses can cause Parkinson's, he said, is bolstered

by

> evidence that the disease has been somewhat more prevalent among

> people who have worked in certain fields, including teachers,

> doctors, dentists, nurses, loggers and miners. These people all had

> relatively high exposure to infections — teachers and doctors

because

> of the people they worked with and loggers and miners because they

> slept in close quarters in work camps.

>

> Mr. does not recall any particular illness he suffered

while

> working on the television production crew. " You know what it's like

> with flu and colds and things; they're not outstanding events, " he

> said.

>

> Toxins can also set off parkinsonism, as doctors learned in 1983,

> when seven young adults in the San Francisco Bay Area suddenly

> developed symptoms. Dr. Langston examined this cluster of patients

> and learned that they all had injected themselves with a synthetic

> form of heroin that contained the toxic molecule MPTP. The MPTP

> killed large numbers of the victims' dopamine-producing cells.

>

> Dr. Calne has already been in touch with the production studio

about

> starting an investigation in the cluster. " I'm not optimistic about

> finding a cause after all this time, " he said, " but I think we

might

> be able to find some features of the circumstances that might be

> helpful. I think we'd be derelict in our responsibility if we

ignored

> this. "

>

> Already, Dr. Calne believes he may have one intriguing clue. The

> production studio, a largely underground structure in downtown

> Vancouver, is heavily insulated because of the need to block out

> sound.

>

> " Obviously the air circulation is very tight, " Dr. Calne said. " And

> so if there was anything in the environment, there may have been a

> bigger risk of that being recirculated to an extent that might

> amplify risk. "

>

>

> Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company | Permissions | Privacy

> Policy

>

>

>

>

> > http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL & _udi=B6T06-

> 4KDBMCW-

> > 5 & _coverDate=07%2F14%

> >

>

2F2006 & _alid=434439079 & _rdoc=1 & _fmt= & _orig=search & _qd=1 & _cdi=4854 & _sor

> t=

> >

>

d & view=c & _acct=C000050221 & _version=1 & _urlVersion=0 & _userid=10 & md5=18be

> e2

> > d69a128b09478774fdc0ca43f7#FCANote

> > <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL & _udi=B6T06-

> 4KDBMCW-

> > 5 & _coverDate=07%2F14%

> >

>

2F2006 & _alid=434439079 & _rdoc=1 & _fmt= & _orig=search & _qd=1 & _cdi=4854 & _sor

> t=

> >

>

d & view=c & _acct=C000050221 & _version=1 & _urlVersion=0 & _userid=10 & md5=18be

> e2

> > d69a128b09478774fdc0ca43f7>)

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks Jeanine. It's a good article. I do believe they have been

aware of the dangers of ochratoxins and the affects of. It wasn't

long ago I paid a visit to the cancer ward speaking with many nurses

and doctors to see if there were elevated levels in their patients

of aflatoxins or ochratoxins. Many didn't believe there was a test

for aflatoxins, but there is and they didn't really seem to

acknowledge what I was saying. Ochratoxins was a different ballgame

when I had asked a young doctor and he had said, " oh yeah, we

definately see elevated levels in our patients. " I asked him why, he

couldn't give me an answer or even where this toxin came from.

I've had two people diagnosed with ALS after their exposure, one was

a dear long time friend that was being exposed to mold in a building

that flooded every time it rained. They were all sick and she didn't

believe the information I was sending her. Sorry to say she is no

longer with us. Whatever the illness was moved rapidly.

KC

> >

> > I couldn't get your link to work but I did find this old New

York

> > Times article about J. Fox. I believe more had been

written

> > about him and possible environmental causes, but can't look for

> them

> > at this moment.

> >

> > Mulvey son

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > May 14, 2002

> >

> > Parkinson's `Clusters' Getting a Closer Look

> >

> > By MARY DUENWALD

> >

> > ichael J. Fox's celebrity can do more than raise money for

> > Parkinson's research. It may also help open an avenue of

research

> > that scientists have long wanted to explore.

> >

> > Mr. Fox, it turns out, was one of four people who worked on a

> > production crew at a television studio in Vancouver, British

> > Columbia, in the late 1970's and developed Parkinson's disease.

> Given

> > that only 125 people worked on the crew in those years —

including

> > actors, directors, writers, production people and technicians —

the

> > number of cases seems extraordinary.

> >

> > It is possible that the cluster of cases arose purely from

chance.

> > But researchers are interested in studying them in hopes they

will

> > lead to clues to possible environmental factors or even viruses

> that

> > may contribute to the disease.

> >

> > Typically, Parkinson's disease afflicts one in 300 people. In

> people

> > as young as J. Fox, 30 when the disease was diagnosed in

> > 1991, the illness is much rarer. Fewer than 5 percent of

> Parkinson's

> > patients develop symptoms before age 50, said Dr. Caroline

Tanner

> of

> > the Parkinson's Institute. The Vancouver cluster includes Mr.

Fox

> and

> > a woman who learned she had Parkinson's at age 38.

> >

> > The four people worked together from 1976 to 1980, when it is

> > possible that the disease began in all of them. Parkinson's

> > progresses gradually, taking 5 to 10 years from the time it

starts

> to

> > the appearance of the first symptoms — usually, rigidity in an

arm

> or

> > leg or tremor in a hand.

> >

> > Dr. Calne, director of the neurodegenerative disorders

> center

> > at the University of British Columbia, estimates that the odds

of

> the

> > four cases occurring at the same time in such a small group of

> people

> > are less than 1 in 1,000.

> >

> > He and other scientists say the cluster warrants investigation.

> >

> > " I would definitely want to look further, " said Dr. J.

> > Langston, director of the Parkinson's Institute in Sunnyvale,

> Calif.,

> > and chief scientific adviser to the J. Fox Foundation

for

> > Parkinson's Research.

> >

> > Dr. Katrina Gwinn-Hardy, a Parkinson's specialist at the

National

> > Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, said, " It's

> > intriguing and worth pursuing. "

> >

> > Mr. Fox said he was curious about the cluster, out of both

empathy

> > for the people he worked with and because, as he put it, " the

> > beginning of my career and the end of my career being tied in a

> > single event is pretty cosmic or weird to me. "

> >

> > But whether the cluster should be investigated, he said, is a

> > question he leaves to the judgment of scientists.

> >

> > Clusters of Parkinson's cases occur from time to time, when, for

> > example, a number of people in a neighborhood or small town

develop

> > the disease. But they often go unnoticed or are ignored because

> > scientists lack the time and money to look into them. In this

case,

> > the publicity surrounding Mr. Fox's admission that he had

> > Parkinson's, nearly three and half years ago, drew the cases

into

> the

> > spotlight.

> >

> > Don S. , who directed Mr. Fox in two Canadian situation

> > comedies beginning when the actor was 16, and who also has

> > Parkinson's, tried to get in touch with Mr. Fox soon after

reading

> > the news. " But I couldn't get past his handlers, " he said.

> >

> > Mr. (also a cast member of " The X Files " for four

years)

> > learned of his illness nine years ago, when he was 55.

> >

> > Sally Gardner, whose Parkinson's was diagnosed when she was 38,

in

> > 1984, had been a script supervisor in the late 1970's, and had

> worked

> > with Mr. Fox and Mr. . The fourth member of the cluster,

a

> > cameraman who has kept his identity secret, was recently found

by

> > Jerry , writer and director of a Canadian television

> > documentary about Mr. Fox and Parkinson's disease. The

cameraman's

> > diagnosis came at age 54.

> >

> > 's documentary, " The Parkinson's Enigma, " which was

> broadcast

> > last month, publicized the cluster's existence.

> >

> > Could something at the television studio have caused the disease

in

> > all four people? Dr. Calne, Dr. Langston and other experts

believe

> it

> > could have. Perhaps something they breathed or ate or drank — a

> > toxin, perhaps, or an infectious agent — set the disease process

in

> > motion.

> >

> > " If this is a genuine cluster and not a statistical fluke, " said

> Dr.

> > Oliver Sacks, a neurologist and writer, " it would certainly

suggest

> > an environmental agent at work. "

> >

> > The mystery is especially compelling because scientists do not

know

> > what causes most cases of Parkinson's. Most believe that both

> genetic

> > and environmental factors are at work. " We often say that maybe

> > people have some gene that predisposes them to be susceptible to

> any

> > number of things in the environment, " said Dr. J.

Weiner,

> > chairman of neurology department at the University of land

> School

> > of Medicine. " But's that's probably just another way of saying

we

> > don't know the cause. "

> >

> > The disease occurs when cells in the substantia nigra, a darkly

> > pigmented part of the midbrain, about half the size of an adult

> index

> > fingernail, start to die off. These cells produce dopamine, a

> > chemical messenger that is essential for normal muscle movement.

> The

> > cell death occurs gradually, and that is why Parkinson's can go

> > unnoticed so long.

> >

> > Once dopamine production declines by about 80 percent, the

patient

> > begins to experience the four classic symptoms: tremor,

stiffness,

> > slow movement and problems with walking, posture and balance. In

> some

> > cases, the cell death is set off by genetic mutations.

Scientists

> > have identified two genes that are involved in Parkinson's

disease

> > and have pinpointed the locations of four others.

> >

> > But Parkinson's does not seem to be primarily a genetic

disorder.

> It

> > runs in the families of only about 10 percent to 15 percent of

> > patients, Dr. Tanner of the Parkinson's Institute said. A large

> study

> > she conducted indicated that the identical twins of Parkinson's

> > patients are no more likely to have the disease than fraternal

> twins —

> > a sign that the disease is not largely genetic.

> >

> > Environmental agents have also been known to create Parkinson's

> > symptoms. In the era of World War I, for example, some people

who

> had

> > contracted the virus that causes sleeping sickness later

developed

> > what came to be known as post-encephalitic parkinsonism, a

> > particularly severe disorder that left people in trancelike

states.

> > Dr. Sacks's book " Awakenings " told how these patients were able

to

> > regain movement when he treated them with levodopa, a drug that

is

> > still the main treatment in Parkinson's. (Levodopa, also known

as L-

> > dopa, is converted to dopamine in the brain.)

> >

> > It is possible that a virus could also have been involved in the

so-

> > called Fox cluster. " It is important to look for infectious as

well

> > as toxic agents, " Dr. Sacks said.

> >

> > Dr. Calne suspects a virus may indeed have caused the

Parkinson's

> > cases in Vancouver. " In many areas of medicine it is fully

accepted

> > that there are several types of cause for one type of disorder, "

he

> > said. " For example, everyone recognized that cancer can be

caused

> by

> > genes, chemical agents or infective agents. In the field of

> > neurodegeneration, people are often reluctant to draw the same

> > general conclusion, in spite of compelling evidence. "

> >

> > Perhaps, Dr. Calne said, Parkinson's can be caused by a single

> event,

> > when an infection or a toxic substance attacks cells in the

> > substantia nigra. Some cells are killed instantly; others are

> injured

> > and die off over time, causing the patient's symptoms to worsen

> > progressively.

> >

> > The idea that viruses can cause Parkinson's, he said, is

bolstered

> by

> > evidence that the disease has been somewhat more prevalent among

> > people who have worked in certain fields, including teachers,

> > doctors, dentists, nurses, loggers and miners. These people all

had

> > relatively high exposure to infections — teachers and doctors

> because

> > of the people they worked with and loggers and miners because

they

> > slept in close quarters in work camps.

> >

> > Mr. does not recall any particular illness he suffered

> while

> > working on the television production crew. " You know what it's

like

> > with flu and colds and things; they're not outstanding events, "

he

> > said.

> >

> > Toxins can also set off parkinsonism, as doctors learned in

1983,

> > when seven young adults in the San Francisco Bay Area suddenly

> > developed symptoms. Dr. Langston examined this cluster of

patients

> > and learned that they all had injected themselves with a

synthetic

> > form of heroin that contained the toxic molecule MPTP. The MPTP

> > killed large numbers of the victims' dopamine-producing cells.

> >

> > Dr. Calne has already been in touch with the production studio

> about

> > starting an investigation in the cluster. " I'm not optimistic

about

> > finding a cause after all this time, " he said, " but I think we

> might

> > be able to find some features of the circumstances that might be

> > helpful. I think we'd be derelict in our responsibility if we

> ignored

> > this. "

> >

> > Already, Dr. Calne believes he may have one intriguing clue. The

> > production studio, a largely underground structure in downtown

> > Vancouver, is heavily insulated because of the need to block out

> > sound.

> >

> > " Obviously the air circulation is very tight, " Dr. Calne

said. " And

> > so if there was anything in the environment, there may have been

a

> > bigger risk of that being recirculated to an extent that might

> > amplify risk. "

> >

> >

> > Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company | Permissions |

Privacy

> > Policy

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > > http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL & _udi=B6T06-

> > 4KDBMCW-

> > > 5 & _coverDate=07%2F14%

> > >

> >

>

2F2006 & _alid=434439079 & _rdoc=1 & _fmt= & _orig=search & _qd=1 & _cdi=4854 & _so

r

> > t=

> > >

> >

>

d & view=c & _acct=C000050221 & _version=1 & _urlVersion=0 & _userid=10 & md5=18b

e

> > e2

> > > d69a128b09478774fdc0ca43f7#FCANote

> > > <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?

_ob=ArticleURL & _udi=B6T06-

> > 4KDBMCW-

> > > 5 & _coverDate=07%2F14%

> > >

> >

>

2F2006 & _alid=434439079 & _rdoc=1 & _fmt= & _orig=search & _qd=1 & _cdi=4854 & _so

r

> > t=

> > >

> >

>

d & view=c & _acct=C000050221 & _version=1 & _urlVersion=0 & _userid=10 & md5=18b

e

> > e2

> > > d69a128b09478774fdc0ca43f7>)

> > >

> >

>