====== Tobacco smoking and Parkinson's disease ======

Beginning in the early 2000s, the results of various studies which examined lifestyle choices as possible factors in the development of [[content:medicine:diseases:m-q:parkinsons]] (PD) began suggesting a strong link with long-term smoking.

A 2016 'review study' which compiled and compared results from groups of earlier research papers, was published in //The Lancet, Neurology //(Volume 15, Issue 12, pp. 1257-1272). It found that :

>Overall, the results suggest that smoking reduced Parkinson’s disease risk by 74%."\\ \\ Source : [[https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(16)30230-7/abstract?gh_jid=4747690003|The epidemiology of Parkinson's disease: risk factors and prevention]]{{:oa_padlock_red.png?16}}<sup>[ paywalled ]</sup>

There is currently no agreed explanation for this very dramatic effect.

In an effort to understand the connection, current research is primarily focusing on nicotine itself - including the use of transdermal patches. It's suggested that its effects may be correlated with its activation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the brain. ([[http://nanobioletters.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/LIANBS133.148.pdf|ref.]])

But there could be other factors, e.g. socio-economic etc.. There are also suggestions that smoking might change access to various chemical elements, such as magnesium (Mg) :

>Even if the mechanism of protection against PD mediated by nicotinism remains unexplained, Mg deficit might serve as one of the factors promoting/keeping the habit."\\ \\ Source [[https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/25/15/8425|ref,]]

//Notes ://

1) The effects of smoking appear to be both dose-dependent and duration-dependent - i.e. the more smoking, the stronger the effect ([[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1353802024011684|ref.]])

2) Smoking reduces the //risk of developing// PD, but does not help those patients who are already affected.

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''//Editor's note ://In case this article may seem to encourage smoking, it's worth pointing out that it's been known since the 1930s that regular smoking has a very wide range of dangerous side effects and serious disease risks. Much of the evidence was suppressed by the tobacco companies for decades - with the assistance of some major governments, who were profiting from tobacco taxes and early death rates, which meant lower pension payouts.''

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