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Environmental and genetic risk factors in Parkinson's disease:
a case-control study in southern Italy.
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To clarify the role of heredity and of some environment risk factors in the
etiology of idiopathic Parkinson's disease, we performed a case-control
study in two regions of southern Italy, Campania and Molise.
We selected two controls for each parkinsonian patient, the patient's
spouse and a sex- and age-matched neurological control.
One hundred sixteen consecutive outpatients with Parkinson's disease (77
men, 39 women; mean age +/- SD = 62.5 +/- 9.9) and the same number of
spouses and neurological controls were interviewed about five environmental
risk factors:
cigarette smoking,
well-water drinking,
head trauma with loss of consciousness,
strict diets,
general anesthesia
and two genetic risk factors:
family history of Parkinson's disease or
family history of essential tremor
Well-water drinking and family history of Parkinson's disease or essential
tremor showed a positive association with Parkinson's disease; smoking
showed a negative association.
The most relevant risk factor was history of familial Parkinson's disease
(odds ratio = 14.6; 95% confidence interval = 7.2 - 29.6); 33% of our
patients had at least one affected relative.
We also showed a unilateral distribution of ancestral secondary cases on
the paternal or on the maternal side, which suggests a dominant inheritance.
Clinical and epidemiologic features of cases with familial Parkinson's
disease showed no peculiarity.
The study suggests a strong role of the genetic factors in the etiology of
Parkinson's disease.
Mov Disord 1996 Jan;11(1):17-23
De Michele G, Filla A, Volpe G, De Marco V, Gogliettino A, Ambrosio G,
Marconi R, Castellano AE, Campanella G
Department of Neurology, Federico II University, Naples, Italy.
PMID: 8771062, MUID: 96366948
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