Pesticides and Parkinson’s disease

It seems like lately there have been numerous articles about the possible connection of pesticides and Parkinson’s disease. Additionally, there have been numerous articles on the role that genetics plays with respect to Parkinson’s disease. My husband is always saying that I have a “why” personality. What he means is that I do not just want to know that I have a diagnosis of PD, but I also want to know why I have PD. This “why” personality does not just pertain to PD, but it applies to any circumstance that occurs in my life. I have always wanted to know why something happens, or the nexus of why something occurs. It is often difficult for me to accept that no reason exists for something that occurs in life.

Keeping all of this in mind, I started recounting my years as a child. I tried to recall if there were any circumstances that could have occurred that may have been part of the reason that I developed PD. I thought I would look at the pesticide issue first, because the genetic portion is much more in depth.

As a child, I do recall that we spent a lot of time with my aunt and uncle and another aunt and uncle who lived in a community which had a potential problem with the drinking water. In fact, whenever we stayed or visited with either family, we always drank bottled water. Later, both families would eventually be part of a class action lawsuit and receive a monetary judgment as a result of the lawsuit. There was definitely contamination of the water due to a biohazard dumpsite.

Because we spent a great deal of time with both families, I began to wonder if drinking the bottled water was enough to insure that potential harm did not occur as a result of the tainted water. There were many times that I spent the night or even longer with one of the families. My cousins and I would run through the sprinklers or sit in a children’s pool that was filled with this water. We showered or bathed with this water. Could this tainted water, which did include pesticides, have gotten into my system and had an impact? It is a very interesting question, which I am uncertain there is an answer for. Additionally, I have never cared much for bottled water, so I know there were times that I did drink the tap water. It did not taste funny as I recall. I also do not recall how often I might have drunk from the tap despite the warnings from my aunts and uncles.

We used to have many pets when I was a child. When you have multiple pets, the likelihood of fleas is high. As adults we would recount with laughter how our house became so infested with fleas one year, that you could actually see the fleas jumping out of the carpet or couch as we sat on the couch watching television. After my dad had a nightmare that fleas were biting his ears, resulting in him falling out of bed onto the floor in the middle of the night, my dad took measures to “get rid of the fleas”. We were allowed to keep one dog and two cats. The rest of the animals were given away to various friends.

Reducing the number of pets in our household was only the first measure that was taken to rid the house of fleas. The final measure that my dad took was to spray a commercial grade pesticide throughout the house. I do not know what chemical was used, but it did take care of the flea infestation. I do recall that this chemical was sprayed on all of the carpeting, couches, and our beds. Anything that was made of fabric was sprayed, almost to the point of saturation. I also believe that he re-sprayed everything a few weeks later, just to be sure that there were absolutely no more fleas.

Thinking about it now, maybe the funny events surrounding the flea infestation were not as funny as we once believed. I now wonder if this type of direct and abundant use of a pesticide inside of our house could have been another contributing factor. Additionally, I was very much a tomboy as a child, so it was very common for me to roll around on grass during games of tackle football with the neighborhood kids. It is difficult to say what types of pesticides that neighbors may have used in their yards or the city may have used in the park across the street from our house.

Although exposure to pesticides may in fact contribute to the future development of PD, I tend to believe that a person may need to be predisposed genetically for this to occur. I believe that if PD had only once source or reason for its development, then we would already have far more answers than we do now and be closer to a cure.

I have done some very extensive research into various genes that are supposedly connected to the development of Parkinson’s disease as well as other various conditions. If I am interpreting this information correctly, then Parkinson’s disease may have types that are purely genetic, but may also have types that are a combination of genetics and outside environmental factors.

In my next post I will write about the genetic research I did as it relates to various conditions in my family’s history. I found some very interesting parallels between family history and Parkinson’s disease. I would find it additionally interesting to see if other people find similar parallels within their own family history, especially those of us who appear to be the first member of a family to be diagnosed with PD. This particular post will be difficult to write, because of the scientific nature of the subject. God willing, I will be able to explain the research I did in an easy to understand format.

Uplifting Events This Week

Hi Friends,

This past week I needed a little pick me up, and there were two events that happened that really did the trick.

As some of you may remember from a previous post, I introduced Diane's blog to you. Diane has Multiple Sclerosis and has a wonderful blog. She not only reaches out to others with Multiple Sclerosis, but she also has a link section to 100 blogs that are written by people with chronic conditions in addition to Multiple Sclerosis. A few examples are links to blogs about cancer, fibromyalgia, mental health, etc. This is an inspirational example about not only how Diane helps those who share her condition, but taking it a step further, she is reaching out to those with other forms of chronic illness.

Additionally, Diane created a unique method of introduction to other blogs. She recently left me a comment that stated that I received an award. When I went to her site this is what I found. This is the exact post from her blog at: http://dj-astellarlife.blogspot.com/

Sunday, March 16, 2008
The Award Goes To:

The envelope please. The winner of the
You Make My Day Award goes to...
Parkinsonism - Road to Diagnosis
"I am a 39 year old female, and I have been diagnosed with Parkinsonism. (Parkinson's Disease or Parkinson's-Plus; yet to be determined) I am married to a wonderful and supportive husband, and I have two children. My daughter is 18 and just graduated from highschool. My son is 14, and is a freshman in highschool. After several years of undiagnosed medical problems, numerous surgeries, at least a dozen doctors, and multiple diagnostic disappointments, I am finally the closest to a diagnosis than I have ever been. It has been a long, frustrating road, but I have gained so much knowledge through my diagnostic journey. I decided to share my experiences, with the hope that it might help other patients avoid the diagnosis pitfalls that I encountered. Whether it is PD or any other chronic illness, if my story and my experiences with the medical community can help just one person obtain that illusive diagnosis more quickly and easily, then my long journey and the knowledge I gained, was well worth it. It is only due to my faith in God and the support of my husband, that I have been able to continue in the struggle to seek a diagnosis, as well as reach out to others like me. "

She then added a link to this blog at the end of the text.

As you can see, her introduction to my blog is not only unique, but it is also eye catching. By inserting my own words from this blog as a reference, she has let her readers know exactly what my blog is all about. If you have the opportunity, it is definitely worth a visit to Diane's blog. Her blog has something for everyone. I want to personally thank Diane for the pick me up she gave me. We all need that in our lives once in a while. I have found that it is the people that I have met through blogging are often the source of encouragement when I need it the most. Thank you again Diane.

On a separate note, I decided to give myself a pick me up last week. As you might recall, in November I rescued a dog from our local animal shelter. She has been a great source of comfort and companionship, especially on those days where the recliner by the fireplace seems to be the place where I need to be. Because Mary Jane has been such a trooper, I thought that she deserved a friend. Although she is a great source comfort to me, I felt that there were times that she may not have been getting enough play time, especially on my "bad" days. Therefore, last Wednesday I went to another local animal shelter and got her a friend. Here is a picture of Mary Jane and her new friend Eldon.

Eldon is quite a bit smaller than Mary Jane, but he does not seem to have a problem when they play or wrestle around. He is 7 pounds compared to her 12.5 pounds. My intuition was correct, and Mary Jane seems to fully enjoy Eldon, although it did take her a few days to get used to the idea of sharing me. In addition, on those days when I just do not have the energy to "play", they have eachother for companionship. Both dogs definitely enjoy sitting with me in the recliner during their down time. The two of them are quite a pair, and I enjoy knowing that Mary Jane has a friend that she can play with anytime she feels the need. Of course, both dogs are extremely spoiled by both my husband and myself.

Man's Best Friend

It has been some time since I have posted, and I do apologize. As I mentioned in my November personal medical journal post, I have been making some changes with my medications. These changes have had beneficial effects, but have also caused some extreme fatigue. I am slowly working my way through the various changes, and I am hoping to post more often.

Through the many years of internet research, I have often read that chronically ill people can benefit from having a pet. I am primarily referring to a dog, otherwise known as man’s best friend. On November the 10th I woke up, and without any real depth prior thought, I headed to one of the local animal shelters.

My husband had expressed concern in the past that having a dog might cause more harm than good. His greatest concern was that I could trip over a small animal and fall, since my balance is not very good. Up until that trip to the animal shelter, we had agreed that a dog was not in my best interest. In fact, my husband did not know that I was going to the animal shelter until I called him from there later that afternoon.

Several dogs were ready for “adoption” that day. Essentially, these dogs already had their shots and had been spayed or neutered. I looked at those dogs first, and I even took one that caught my attention for a short walk. Unfortunately, the little guy would have been more than I could have handled. He did not walk well on a leash, showed little interest in me, and spent the majority of the walk marking his territory.

I then began looking at the dogs that were available for adoption, but could not be released until they were spayed or neutered. As I walked past each kennel, most of the dogs were barking, jumping around, and just trying to get my attention. When I reached one particular kennel, there was a small dog that did not do any of these things. She was just quietly lying in the kennel with the saddest brown eyes I had ever seen. I almost immediately knew that this little dog was supposed to be mine.

It took the staff member a few minutes to get her on a leash, so that I could take her for a walk. She was very timid, and it was evident that she had not been treated well in the past. Within about five minutes, she broke out of her shell, and all she wanted was to be held and pet. She walked on the leash like an old pro, constantly looking up as if to check to see if I was still there. I knew this dog was meant for me.

It was about this same time that I called my husband and told him where I was. I spent the next thirty minutes telling him about this dog and how well behaved and calm she was. I told him that I knew in my heart that this dog was the reason I had been lead to the animal shelter that day. He reluctantly gave his blessing for me to let the shelter know that I was interested in adopting her.

After filling out the required paperwork and paying the fee, essentially this little dog belonged to me. Unfortunately, the animal shelter workers said that I could not take her home until she was spayed, but they told me that I could visit her as often as I wanted. I stayed at the shelter for another thirty minutes, until they closed, and I reluctantly went home. The shelter workers informed me that it would be about two weeks before I could bring her home.

Therefore, I visited with her at the shelter on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On Thursday, my mom and aunt went with me to the shelter to meet her. Like me, they instantly fell in love with her. As we were getting ready to leave the shelter, one of the workers said she wanted to check the dog, realizing that she had not been checked to see if she had already been spayed, prior to arriving at the shelter. To my surprise, the worker stated that she had absolutely been previously spayed, and she could leave with us that day. I am not sure whether the dog or I was happier about this turn of events. Regardless, on November the 15th she was able to come home with me.

I had no trouble deciding on a name for this little dog. The first time I saw her she looked so sad and pitiful, that she reminded me of a doll that I have that had belonged to my grandma, who died many years ago. This doll’s actual name when sold back in 1965 was “Little Miss No Name”. When my mom graduated from high school, she had bought it for my grandma. My grandma, who I was very close to, cherished that doll when she was alive. I remember how much I loved the doll as a little girl, and my grandma would tell me that I could look at her, but I could not touch her. I used to ask her why the doll was so sad and wore a dress made of burlap. She said that she was sad because her mom had died in a fire when she was eight years old, and she wore a burlap dress because she was very poor. I believe that this doll represented how my grandma felt growing up poor and after her mother died in a fire when she was eight years old. The last time I saw my grandma before she died, she had promised me that I could have “Little Miss No Name” after she passed away. Six months later, “Little Miss No Name” became mine.

I knew that “Little Miss No Name” was much too long for a name, so I named my new four-legged friend Maryjane. Maryjane was my grandma’s name. I was a little worried that some of the family would not understand why I chose the name, but most of them did. Although my mother said that had I named a “cat” Maryjane, my grandma would have turned over in her grave, because she had hated cats with a passion. Therefore, Maryjane is the name of my new little friend.

Little Maryjane has settled in very nicely. The veterinarian gave her a clean bill of health and stated that she was only about one year old. Her age surprised me, because she behaves like a much older dog. Although she will play occasionally, her sole purpose in life seems to be getting as much love as she can. She enjoys sitting in the sun while I am out in the garden, and she enjoys sitting on my lap for hours having her tummy rubbed. She enjoys car rides and knows to do her “business” outside. She has even bonded with my husband and enjoys cuddle time in bed with us each night, before he puts her in her own bed to sleep.

Although this topic does not have much to do with Parkinson’s Disease, PD-Plus, or dealing with the medical community, it does have much to do with well-being. Since Maryjane came into my life, she has played a large role in reducing stress and providing companionship. She has slipped so perfectly into our lives that I can only presume that she was the reason I felt lead to the animal shelter that Saturday afternoon. Her personality and behavior matches well with the limitations that this disease has placed on my life. Someone mentioned to me that she was the perfect dog for me. I may have rescued her from the shelter, but she has added benefits to my health that I never thought possible.

Our local animal shelter is a wonderful place. I found the workers to be helpful and friendly to deal with. Additionally, when a person adopts a pet, the adoption includes a bad of dog food, all of the first year’s required shots, and a certificate for a free veterinarian visit to insure that the animal is in good health. I believe that many of the animals at the shelters are not there because they are bad animals. I do believe that many are there because of circumstances caused by humans. I would now highly advocate that anyone seeking a four-legged companion to first check out the local animal shelters. There are so many unwanted, well-behaved animals who only need a good home in order to thrive.

To complete this little story, I am including pictures of both the real “Little Miss No Name” and Maryjane, who reminded me so much of this little doll when I first saw her.