WASHINGTON, May 08 (Reuters) - People exposed to bug sprays in the home may have a higher risk of Parkinson's disease, an incurable neurological disorder, researchers reported on Friday.

The study, which is sure to cause controversy, is the first to show that exposure to pesticides in the home may lead to Parkinson's, although other studies have suggested that exposure to the chemicals at work is a risk.

Lorene Nelson, a neuroepidemiologist at Stanford University School of Medicine in California, and colleagues studied 500 people newly diagnosed with the disease, which is characterized by tremor and problems with walking and balance.

They told a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in San Diego that people who had been exposed to pesticides were twice as likely to develop Parkinson's disease as people not exposed to pesticides. "This study is the largest yet of newly diagnosed individuals with Parkinson's disease and it is the first study to show a significant association between home pesticide use and the risk of developing Parkinson's disease," Nelson said in a statement.

For their study, the investigators questioned 496 people who had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Each patient was asked if they had used or been exposed to insecticides, herbicides, weed killers or fungicides in the home or garden.

The team compared these surveys with those completed by 541 people without Parkinson's.

Parkinson's patients were more than two times as likely to have been exposed to insecticides in the home. People exposed to herbicides also had a higher risk, but exposure to insecticides in the garden and to fungicides did not seem to be associated with the disease.

Parkinson's occurs when brain cells that produce dopamine, an important neurotransmitter (message-carrying chemical), are destroyed in a part of the brain known as the substantia nigra.

"Certain chemicals that an individual is exposed to in the environment may cause selective death of brain cells or neurons," Nelson said. "If we could understand why these neurons are being killed in certain circumstances, we can then try and prevent it."

She said much more study was needed before anyone could draw any conclusions about pesticides and Parkinson's. "No specific guidelines regarding avoidance of pesticides can be given at this time but, in general, this is an area of public health importance that needs to be pursued," she said.

http://www.doctorbob.com/ - 05/10/2000