Parkinson's disease is associated with pesticides

The food on the plate is cut into bite-sized pieces. The coffee cup is filled halfway. Fragile objects are removed from the dining table.

In other words, the body stops obeying the signals from the brain, and many things need to be done differently when one is affected by Parkinson's.

The feared neurological disease is debilitating for the affected, and now the number of cases appears to be rapidly increasing.

Data from August 2023 from the WHO shows a doubling of cases worldwide over the past 25 years.

In Denmark, an estimated 12,000 people are living with the disease today. However, that number is expected to rise to 20,000 by the year 2040. There is no official registry of Parkinson's cases, so the figure is estimated based on the number of people receiving treatment for the disease from neurologists and private doctors.

Although the increase is significant, there are still no studies that can definitively explain why.

Criticism of pesticides

Per Borghammer is a professor at the Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET at Aarhus University Hospital. He deals with Parkinson's and is one of many researchers searching for an explanation for the increasing number of cases.

As the population ages, more late-onset diseases will be observed, including Parkinson's. However, the increase in average age alone cannot explain the rise in Parkinson's cases, explains Per Borghammer.

In recent years, Borghammer has researched how Parkinson's develops, and he and his team have obtained good evidence that Parkinson's begins outside the brain, specifically in the nasal mucosa or the intestines.

"What is special about these two places? They are in very close contact with the outside world," says Per Borghammer.

"It is a plausible hypothesis to imagine that the things we inhale in the nose or consume, which go down into the intestines—such as infections, toxins, pesticides—can trigger the disease process," he explains.

Parkinson manifests very differently in those affected. For 50-year-old Ole Lystrup Iversen, it began almost seven years ago with muscle stiffness and reduced function in the left hand.

He was in the midst of a busy career as a pharmacy owner and board member of the Danish Pharmacists' Association when he became one of the 12,000 Danes living with Parkinson's disease. The symptoms have since become more numerous and advanced.

The disease has both physical symptoms and cognitive challenges for many Parkinson's patients. Some of the symptoms include:

Trembling hands

Muscle stiffness

Constipation

Loss of facial expression

Speech difficulties

Poor sleep

Depression

Dementia

Warning from the Parkinson's Association

While research is being conducted on the effect of pesticides on human health, the Danish patient and family association is getting involved in the debate.

In October, the Parkinson's Association warned against continued use of glyphosate in agriculture in an op-ed in Altinget, written by director Astrid Blom. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in the pesticide Roundup, which has previously been suspected of contributing to the development of various diseases.

Astrid Blom urged Environment Minister Magnus Heunicke (S) in the article to use the precautionary principle and vote against the continued use of glyphosate. The Ministry of the Environment refers in a response to the Health Committee to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which assesses that the substance is safe to use in relation to human health.

The concern is shared by Dutch Parkinson's researcher Bas Bloem. In September, he told the Dutch media De Groene Amsterdammer that he does not believe that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) assesses the health risk on a sufficiently informed basis.

Instead of continuing to use glyphosate, the Parkinson's Association suggests approving it for a shorter period and, in the meantime, initiating research that could examine the pesticide and its possible connection to Parkinson's disease.

"It is an incredibly commonly used product we are talking about, so it is clear that one must find a feasible path. But of course, we would prefer that its use be completely stopped until it is known to be safe," says Astrid Blom.

Glyphosate was approved for use in EU member states until December 15, 2033, despite protests.

"We are concerned about that. When there is uncertainty, I think it is a very, very long period that they have approved the continued use of glyphosate," says Astrid Blom.

The Parkinson's Association is in dialogue with its European sister organizations about ongoing research. If new results on the connection between Parkinson's and pesticides emerge, the European approval for the use of glyphosate, for example, could be withdrawn.

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