In several places around the country, scientists are seeing a worrying trend emerge: Parkinson’s rates are skyrocketing.
Experts suspect that exposure to agricultural chemicals and factory fumes are responsible for America’s U-shaped zone, where rates of the debilitating disease are nearly 50 percent higher than national averages.
South CaliforniaThe Sun Belt and Rust Belt states make up the region that experts call America’s “Parkinson’s Belt.”
Dr. Tim Greenamyre, director of the Pittsburgh Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, had been conducting laboratory studies on one of the chemicals thought to be a factor: a pesticide known as Rotenone.
A few years ago she started noticing that her left arm did not swing when she walked and she could not smell.
This map shows the number of people with Parkinson’s per 100,000 people across the United States, using data from 6,866,623 people who had Medicare in 2012. Southern California, the Sun Belt and Rust Belt states make up the region that experts call America’s “Parkinson’s Belt.”
It turns out that Dr. Greenamyre himself had developed the disease he was studying, which has no treatment and slowly erodes a person’s control over their body, eventually leading to death.
The Pennsylvania doctor suspects he developed the disease because of the same chemicals he was studying in the lab, which could be one reason rates are so high in his area.
“I guess my lab work, creating a model of Parkinson’s disease, led me to develop Parkinson’s disease,” Dr. Greenamyre said. He told NBC News.
A 2022 study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania identified Parkinson’s clusters in the South CaliforniaSoutheast Texas, Florida and Central PennsylvaniaMost are located in or near large industrial or agricultural operations, or both.
Dr. Tim Greenamyre, director of the Pittsburgh Neurodegenerative Disease Institute, developed the disease he set out to study.
These clusters have led researchers like Dr. Ray Dorsey, a neurologist at the University of Rochester, to conclude that something in the environment must be increasing the local risk of Parkinson’s disease.
Dr. Dorsey He told NBC News“If Parkinson’s disease were just a matter of chance, we wouldn’t expect to see parts of the country or parts of the world with higher rates than others.”
Their theory is that chemicals released by historical factory and farm work have contributed to Parkinson’s risk.
Pittsburgh used to produce half of the country’s steel, and in the process released plumes of chemicals over surrounding homes. The problem was so severe that it was once known as ‘city of smoke’.
Knowing this history, Dr. Dorsey’s lab work focused on A chemical called trichloroethylene (TCE), which is used in dry cleaning, degreasing, and the manufacture of disinfectants, dyes, perfumes, and soaps. Degreasing agents are often used in the steelmaking process.
The EPA cracked down on this chemical in 2023. proposing a ban on all uses of TCE, which they consider “extremely toxic.” It has been linked to cancer, nerve damage and reproductive problems.
In a 2023 studyDr. Dorsey said studies have also linked the chemical to a 500 percent increase in the risk of developing Parkinson’s.
They are not sure how the chemical might do this, but suggest it could change the way brain cells use energy, the study noted.
Other labs, like Dr. Greenamyre’s, are studying agriculture, not industry, to see if it has a link to neurodegenerative disease.
Rotenone is a chemical used nationwide as a pesticide on crops and livestock and to control fish populations, as well as by home gardeners.
Parts of the Parkinson’s Belt are located in prominent agricultural areas, such as Kern County in California, which produces almonds, grapes and citrus fruits, which may have previously or currently used this pesticide.
In the early 1990s, Dr. Greenmyre began researching this chemical. In 2011One study found that farmers who used rotenone had a 2.5 times higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease than those who did not.
In 2000, Dr. Greenmyre and his team published a study in Nature which showed how injecting rotenone into rats caused them to develop movement problems within three months.
By nine months, the chemical had caused changes in their brains similar to those seen in a human Parkinson’s patient.
Sometimes, while studying the chemical, it would stick to his gloves, Dr. Greenmyre recalled in the book. Science magazine in 2023. This exhibition would come back to him when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2021, with a suspected link to his research.
“The irony is obvious,” Dr. Greenmyre said.
In response, the EPA restricted rotenone’s use twice and it is no longer available for purchase by home gardeners. Still, with some red tape, it is available for use and the EPA said there is “insufficient evidence” to link the chemical to Parkinson’s.
Approximately one million people in the US are currently living with this condition. The Parkinson’s Foundation That number is estimated to rise to 1.2 million by 2030.
Experts have speculated that President Joe Biden suffers from Parkinson’s disease, although this has never been confirmed.
Walking difficulties affect about 90 percent of Parkinson’s patients (Biden falls at Air Force event in 2023)
This is because life expectancy has generally increased worldwide, meaning there are more older people and More people in general being diagnosed with all types of neurodegenerative diseases, from Parkinson’s to Alzheimer’s.
Some estimates suggest that with 90,000 new patients More than 100,000 cases of Parkinson’s are diagnosed each year and it is the fastest growing degenerative disease.
Parkinson’s disease is a condition that attacks the nervous system, causing the cells responsible for controlling movement to deteriorate. Both world-famous boxer Muhammad Ali and actor Michael J. Fox have been diagnosed with the disease.
Early symptoms may include tremors, slowness of movement, muscle stiffness, and changes in speech and writing. Over time, these symptoms worsen and affect all muscles in the body, often leaving the person confined to a wheelchair.
Although the disease itself does not usually kill, it causes complications that do, such as an increased risk of falls or the likelihood of developing pneumonia.
Doctors do not know what causes the disease; it is thought that genetics could be responsible for approximately 15 percent of cases.
The outbreaks observed throughout the United States reinforce the theory that 85 percent of cases are related to another factor, such as the environment.
Since researchers have yet to discover the cause of the disease, there are also few treatment options available.
The standard treatment, which involves taking two pills, carbidopa and levodopa, has been the standard for decades. It does not stop the progression of the disease, but it can help people manage symptoms at an early stage.