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Posted on Mar 27, 2008, 8 p.m.
By Jeanelle Topping
Exposure to pesticides could increase the risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to a new study.
Exposure to pesticides could increase the risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to a new study.
Research carried out by scientists in the US found that people with the neurological condition were twice as likely to have been exposed to such chemicals as relatives without the disease.
The team included researchers from Duke University and the University of Miami, and questioned 319 Parkinson's patients along with 200 family members.
Development of the disease is thought to have genetic and environmental triggers, but the study found that people exposed to pesticides carried a 1.6 times greater risk of suffering from the condition.
People who used pesticides regularly were more than twice as likely to develop Parkinson's disease, the BMC Neurology published study found.
"I think there is very strong evidence now linking the two," lead researcher Dana Hancock told the BBC. "What we need to find out how - the biological process."
A separate study published in Nature Medicine journal indicated that therapeutic cloning could be used to repair the damage caused by Parkinson's.
