Pesticide exposure linked to 53 percent increased risk for Alzheimer's disease

Pesticides and Cognitive Decline

By Dr. Allan Spreen

Alzheimer's risk skyrockets for farmers in Utah

In recent study, Duke University scientist Kathleen M. Hayden, PhD and her team followed 3,000 elderly men and women living in rural Utah for 14 years. At the outset of the study, the scientists asked each of the participants detailed questions to determine exposure to many different types of pesticides. In addition, the scientists measured the participants' cognitive levels three times over the course of the study.

They found that about 600 participants had some pesticide exposure. In fact, most of them had been exposed to two kinds of pesticides commonly used to spray food crops, called organophosphates and organochlorines.

Of the 600 participants exposed to these pesticides, an astounding 500 developed "incident dementia" over the course of the study. In addition, 433 developed Alzheimer's disease.'

Read more...

Related Post:

Widget by [ Iptek-4u ]