May-June . 2024 | The HEALTH

BRAIN BITES

BY DR WAEL MY MOHAMED

Dr Wael MY Mohamed is with the Department of Basic Medical Science , Kulliyyah of Medicine , International Islamic University Malaysia ( IIUM ).

In both cases , the disease appears in externally related structures . Thus , pesticides , industrial chemicals , and air pollution may cause Parkinson ’ s disease and Lewy body dementia .

Toxicants breathed via the nose may cause pathological alterations in olfactory alphasynuclein that spread and cause brain-first Lewy body disease . Ingested toxicants may trigger alpha-synuclein disease in the gut , which spreads via parasympathetic and sympathetic pathways to form a body-first subtype .

Symptoms , clinical evaluations , in vivo imaging , and pathology may follow the spread . The brain-first and body-first models with environmental exposures produce testable hypotheses on clinical disorders ’ prevalence , future occurrence , imaging patterns , and pathological markers .

Though limited , the claimed relationship raises several issues , such as the skin ’ s participation , the microbiome ’ s impact , and continuous exposures . Despite these restrictions , the interaction of external variables with the nose and stomach may explain many Parkinson ’ s disease riddles and lead to prevention .

An important hypothesis study proposes environmental toxicants as Parkinson ’ s disease ’ s cause . This research implies that breathed or eaten poisons may cause Parkinson ’ s via the brain ’ s scent centre or stomach .

It links pesticides and air pollution to illness onset in a single model . This new paradigm views Parkinson ’ s as a systemic illness that environmental protections may prevent .

PARKINSON ’ S IS A SYSTEMIC ILLNESS

German scientist Heiko Braak , MD , claimed that the illness started outside the brain in 2003 . Per Borghammer , MD , of Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark , and his colleagues now believe that the sickness begins in the brain ’ s smell centre or the digestive system . A new hypothesis study in the Journal of Parkinson ’ s Disease on World Parkinson ’ s Day combines brain- and body-first models with plausible illness causes - inhaled or ingested environmental toxicants .

The current research claims that pesticides , dry cleaning chemicals , and air pollution predispose to a brain-first form of the illness . Other toxicants , such as polluted food and water , cause body-first sickness .

In both brain-first and body-first situations , disease develops in externally linked bodily components . Parkinson ’ s is a systemic illness with roots in the nose and gut , and environmental influences are increasingly acknowledged as substantial contributions , if not causation .

This supports the hypothesis that toxicants may cause Parkinson ’ s , the world ’ s fastest-growing brain illness , which is avoidable . Clumping in the brain , the protein forms Lewy bodies and causes nerve cell death and malfunction , including those in dopamineproducing areas that govern motor function . Braak first claimed that a virus may cause the sickness .

The current study suggests that environmental pollutants including trichloroethylene ( TCE ), perchloroethylene ( PCE ), and paraquat and air pollution may generate toxic alpha-synuclein . Though banned in over 30 countries , including the EU and China , paraquat is one of the most widely used herbicides in the US and Africa . TCE and PCE contaminate thousands of former industrial , commercial , and military sites , including Camp Lejeune .

When James Parkinson first identified the ailment , London ’ s air pollution was poisonous . Soft , porous tissue lines the nose and intestines with strong brain connections .

NEW MODELS FOR BRAIN DISEASE RESEARCH

Chemicals breathed in the brain-first paradigm may enter via the smell nerve . Alpha-synuclein spreads , mostly on one side , from the brain ’ s smell centre to dopamineproducing neurons .

The demise of these cells characterises Parkinson ’ s . Asymmetric tremor , delayed movement , slower advancement after diagnosis , and later cognitive impairment or dementia may result .

The gastrointestinal tract lining lets substances pass . The alpha-synuclein disease may start in the gastrointestinal , nervous system and progress to both brain and spinal cord sides .

This body-first pathway is often associated with Lewy body dementia , a Parkinson ’ s- related disease that causes early constipation and sleep disturbance , followed by more symmetric slowing in movements and dementia as it spreads through both brain hemispheres .

These environmental toxins are common , although not everyone gets Parkinson ’ s . Timing , dosage , exposure length , and genetic and environmental variables may determine Parkinson ’ s development . Exposures usually occur years or decades before symptoms appear . According to a growing body of studies associating environmental exposure with Parkinson ’ s disease , the new models may help scientists correlate particular exposures to specific kinds of illness .

This initiative will benefit from public understanding of the health risks of several environmental contaminants . This may solve many Parkinson ’ s disease puzzles and lead to prevention .

These environmental exposure models may help explain how toxicants cause autism , ALS , and Alzheimer ’ s in addition to Parkinson ’ s . – The HEALTH