What is Parkinson’s?
Parkinson’s is a chronic, progressive, degenerative neurological condition with no cure or treatments that stop disease progression. People diagnosed with Parkinson’s have a complex range of movement related symptoms including tremor, muscle rigidity, poverty of movement and loss of normal posture with an increased tendency for falls and fractures.
However, Parkinson’s also has major non-movement symptoms such as depression, anxiety, behavioural disturbances, cognitive impairment, sleep disorders, communication and swallowing difficulties, hallucinations, dementia, sensory deficits such as loss of smell and impaired speech.
Parkinson’s comprises not only this chronic illness but also other rarer variants known collectively as Atypical Parkinson’s Plus conditions. These include Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), Progressive Supra-nuclear Palsy (PSP), Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) and Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD).
What causes Parkinson’s?
As incidence of Parkinson’s is increasing faster than other diseases of ageing, including Alzheimer’s, additional factors beyond an ageing population must contribute. These factors are unclear and undoubtedly complex, but likely include exposure to environmental toxins.
Worldwide attention and lobbying to raise awareness of these links to Parkinson’s has increased since 2019, with Australian researchers leading early analyses of the correlation between farming (pesticides) and increased incidence of Parkinson’s. The EU, USA and other countries have recognised this risk and taken proactive steps to control chemicals such as trichloroethylene (TCE) and Paraquat; at least 58 countries including the UK, Canada, China and the Netherlands have banned the use of Paraquat. Despite this, reducing the risk of Parkinson’s through banning or regulating these chemicals has not been actioned in Australia.
