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Familial Parkinson's Disease: Possible Role of Environmental Factors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2015

Susan Calne ,
Bruce Schoenberg ,
Wayne Martin ,
Ryan J. Uitti ,
Peter Spencer  and
D.B. Calne
Susan Calne
Affiliation:
Belzberg Laboratory of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Neurology, Health Sciences Centre Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Bruce Schoenberg
Affiliation:
NINCDS, Neuroepidemiology Branch, Federal Building 904, Bethesda, Maryland
Wayne Martin
Affiliation:
Belzberg Laboratory of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Neurology, Health Sciences Centre Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Ryan J. Uitti
Affiliation:
the Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, University Hospital, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Peter Spencer
Affiliation:
Institute of Neurotoxicology, Department of Neuroscience Neurology and Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine Bronx, New York
D.B. Calne*
Affiliation:
Belzberg Laboratory of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Neurology, Health Sciences Centre Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
*
Department of Medicine, Division of Neurology, Health Sciences Centre Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. B.C., Canada V6T 1W5
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Abstract:

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We report here six families with Parkinson's disease in whom the onset of symptoms tended to occur at approximately the same time irrespective of the age of the patient. The mean difference in the time of onset in different generations was 4.6 years while the mean difference in age of onset in children and parents was 25.2 years. We construe this pattern of age separation within families as suggestive of an environmental rather than genetic cause. Support for this view derives from the lack of correlation between occurrence of the disease and the degree of consanguinity. We conclude that our findings are in accord with the hypothesis which attributes the cause of some cases of Parkinson's disease to early, subclinical environmental damage followed by age-related attrition of neurons within the central nervous system.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , August 1987 , pp. 303 - 305
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation 1987

References

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