A just-released report from the Center for Disease Control in the USA states that there is a higher chance of dying from Parkinson’s disease (as well as ALS – Lou Gehrig’s disease) if you are in a higher socioeconomic status profession (such as “computer and mathematical; architecture and engineering; legal; and education, training, and library occupations”) than a lower socioeconomic status profession (“farming, construction, production, and military service”). This runs counter to many people’s belief that, say, exposure to chemical pesticides, which farmers or some members of the military might experience, is likely to lead to a PD diagnosis and subsequent death.
Here’s the paragraph that sums up the research paper, minus the citations but with scary prediction intact in the final lines:
“Most previous studies of occupation and ALS and Parkinson’s disease have focused on exposures to toxicants (e.g., pesticides, solvents, lead, welding fume, and electromagnetic fields) that occur more frequently in lower SES [socioeconomic status] occupations (e.g., farming, construction, production, and military service). This study, however, did not find positive associations between lower SES occupations and ALS and Parkinson’s disease mortality; rather, positive associations were identified between ALS and Parkinson’s disease mortality and higher SES occupations such as computer and mathematical; architecture and engineering; legal; and education, training, and library occupations. Understanding the reasons for this finding is important for a number of reasons. The burdens of ALS and Parkinson’s disease mortality could increase in the future because the U.S. workforce is increasing in age, and increasing age is a recognized risk factor for ALS and Parkinson’s disease. If the associations between higher SES occupations and ALS and Parkinson’s disease mortality are real, then the burdens of ALS and Parkinson’s disease mortality could also increase in the future because the U.S. workforce is increasing in the number and proportion of workers employed in higher SES occupations.”
Of course, the paper looks at association only; it doesn’t look at causal relationships. And it’s looking at mortality rates, not rates of diagnoses. You could contract PD but die of something else.
Nonetheless, it’s provocative and another quantum of insight into the disease that holds us in its grip.
The paper is entitled “Mortality from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Parkinson’s Disease Among Different Occupation Groups — United States, 1985–2011.”
To read it, click here: CDC – Career May Influence Whether You Are More At Risk for PD
