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Parkinson's Disease Risk Higher Among Men 2004-04-23 Genetics, hormones or toxic chemicals could explain the difference Researchers have confirmed what many doctors have long suspected and earlier studies have suggested -- that men are more likely to develop Parkinson's disease than women. Parkinson's disease is a slowly progressive brain disorder characterized by tremor and difficulty with walking, movement and co-ordination. Dr. Fred Wooten and colleagues at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville analysed seven previously published studies from the U.S., China, Poland, Italy, Spain and Finland. The results showed men were 1.5 times more likely to develop Parkinson's disease than women. The authors speculate male gender itself could be a risk factor, or a marker for other risk factors, such as greater exposure to toxic chemicals and higher rates of head injury, both of which are associated with the disease. It's also possible the female hormone estrogen could protect women from the disease. Dr. Anthony Lang, director of the Movement Disorders Centre at Toronto Western Hospital and director of the division of neurology at the University of Toronto, says confirming the increased risk in men is useful even "if the explanation for this intriguing finding is no further ahead on the basis of this paper." He sums up the three possible factors at play as "male lifestyle, being a male specifically, or not being a female." Lang says he doesn't believe exposure to toxic chemicals accounts for the sex difference in risk of Parkinson's disease since the elevated male risk is seen in both rural and urban areas. "I think it's more likely to be a mixture of genetics -- poorly understood genetic factors -- and maybe a mild neuroprotective influence of estrogen. On the other hand, we see women of child-bearing age when estrogen levels should be reasonably high, who still develop Parkinson's." SOURCE: The Medical Posting, Canada http://tinyurl.com/yq3w7 * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn