The following is a copy of an article in Science News July 2, 1994.
Ciagarette smoking appears to confer some protection against
ideopathic Parkinson's disease, a debilitating disorder characterized by
tremors and arising from no known cause. This finding, published in the
June 15 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, is base on diet and lifestyle data
for 58 men with the disease. All were amoung 8,000 Oahu, Hawaii, men
followed for 26 years as part of a larger study of heart disease.
Other studies-some dating to the late 1950s-had hinted at a
protective role for cigarettes in Parkinson's. But this one conducted by
reseachers at the University of Hawaii School of Public Health in Honolulu,
is the largest prospective survey to investigate such an effect. It
revealed a 27 percent reduction in Parkinson's rish for each 10 years a man
smoked.
Nicotine can stimulate the brain's production of dopamine
(SN:5/14/94,p.314), a neurotransmitter in short supply amoung Parkinson's
disease sufferers. Indeed, the Honolulu team notes, "Dopamine stimulation
is consistent with reports that signs of ideopathic Parkinson's disease ...
are transiently relieved by cigarette smoking and nicotine gum chewing."
From a smoker with PD.
[log in to unmask]
