Paraquat Lawsuit Update
As of 2024, almost one million people in the USA alone are living with Parkinson’s disease. By 2030, this number is expected to reach around 1.2 million. Across the globe, more than 10 million people are living with Parkinson’s.
With these rising numbers, the research is also speeding up as we try to understand the disease better. Experts are finding more and more information about the dynamics between environmental factors and Parkinson’s disease.
Environmental factors like geography, occupation and workplace, and exposure to metals and solvents are being studied to understand how they may be impacting a person with reference to PD.
Understanding Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s Disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder. This means the neurodegeneration only keeps getting worse with no cure for the disease. Parkinson’s is also sometimes known as movement disorder. This is because it primarily affects the motor system and movement.
The patient may have trouble walking, experience tremors, or be extremely slow in their movements. Along with these, non-movement symptoms are also common. Problems like depression and issues in speech cause more mental and emotional struggles than movement symptoms.
What Causes Parkinson’s Disease?
Substantia nigra, a part of basal ganglia in the brain, is responsible for and controls movement. The nerve cells in the basal ganglia produce a very important chemical called dopamine. When these nerve cells or neurons are impaired or die, dopamine production is impacted. The reduction and loss of dopamine start causing problems in movement. We don’t know yet what causes the neurons to be impaired or die.
People living with Parkinson’s also tend to lose nerve endings that produce norepinephrine. Norepinephrine is the chemical messenger of the parasympathetic nervous system.
Physiological functions like the regulation of heart rate and blood pressure are the works of the parasympathetic nervous system. The non-movement symptoms like fatigue and lowered metabolic rate may be tracked back to the loss of norepinephrine.
Lewy bodies which are essentially abnormal aggregations of protein, have been found in the brain cells of people with PD. The relationship between these bodies and Parkinson’s is yet to be identified. Some Parkinson’s cases are a result of hereditary dispositions while some are due to specific genetic variants.
Key Risk Factors for Parkinson’s
There is no medical test that objectively indicates that an individual has Parkinson’s Disease. Having said that, experts also discuss that there are a few key factors that are predominantly linked to PD.
Genetics, environment, and other miscellaneous factors come together to result in PD. 10 to 20% of cases of PD are due to genetic factors. There are two types of genetic causes. The individual may have received one copy of the mutated gene from one parent (autosomal dominant) or one copy of a mutated gene from each parent (autosomal recessive).
Anyone that has a parent or sibling living with Parkinson’s, has around two times the normal chance of living with PD themselves. So, what about the 80-90% of cases? Those can be labeled as idiopathic, meaning unknown. There are, however, a few factors considered to have a link with PD.
The biggest and most natural cause of Parkinson’s is age. The average age of the onset of the disease is 60. Between men and women, men are seen to be more likely to develop PD.
In recent times, the impact of environmental factors on Parkinson’s is being studied more consciously. It is believed that pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, detergents, and solvents may be linked to the disease.
A solid example of this is the Paraquat herbicide. According to TorHoerman Law, Paraquat Dichloride has been linked to PD and other health impacts like lung collapse and seizures. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most employed herbicides in the United States of America.
Physical head injury or trauma can also be linked to PD. However, there’s no certainty that head injury causes PD. There is still a lack of data to determine that a certain type, frequency, or severity of head injury can increase the risk of someone developing the disease.
After genetics, the next in line of level of risk seems to be environmental factors.
Let’s take a look at them.
Environmental Factors Linked to Parkinson’s Disease
There is a gradual uprise in the study of the link between environmental factors and Parkinson’s Disease. Pesticides, herbicides, metals, solvents, and pollution are a few main topics in the limelight.
Studies have shown that there is a relationship between exposure to pesticides and herbicides and the development of PD. Ingredients like rotenone, permethrin, and paraquat are names you may have heard of.
A study has shown that rotenone kills dopaminergic neurons and induces Parkinson’s symptoms in rats. Permethrin exposure triggers chemical events in the brain that cause a higher risk of PD in people with a genetic predisposition. Paraquat is also associated with oxidative stress and damage to neurons producing dopamine.
The negative impacts of Paraquat have led many people to file lawsuits against the chemical. In the Paraquat lawsuit update of 2024, it can be noted that a coalition of 47 members of Congress has called the Environmental Protection Agency to ban the herbicide due to the severe risks it poses.
The litigation is ongoing and anyone who has been exposed to paraquat and was later diagnosed with Parkinson’s may be entitled to compensation.
Metals like manganese may be related to PD as well. Certain occupations like welding cause high exposure to the metal, further leading to a form of parkinsonism called manganism. Copper, lead, mercury, and iron are other metals to note. They can cause neurological damage, and oxidative stress and promote the formation of alpha-synuclein.
Solvents like trichloroethylene are very harmful and can be easily found in products like detergents and paint thinners. In a 2023 study of Navy and Marine veterans, it was found that a group of veterans were at a 70% higher risk of developing PD because their station’s water supply was contaminated with TCE.
Other pollutants like polychlorinated biphenyls and fine particulate matter are recognized as serious risk factors for neurodegeneration. High levels of air pollution can cause oxidative stress and inflammation, and high concentrations of PCBs have been found in the brains of people with PD.
Parkinson’s Disease is a complicated disease and can not be traced back to a single risk factor. While research is being done to find out more about this chronic disease, it is important that we act on what we already know. We can be more aware of the risk factors and try our best to minimize our exposure and work towards reducing the risks of developing the disease.