Parkinson's Disease

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Personalized Medicine: Matching Treatments to Your Genes

12/02/2013 05:15 PM EST

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Parkinson's Disease

12/02/2013 03:36 PM EST

Source: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences -
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Coping with a Diagnosis

12/02/2013 03:36 PM EST

Source: Parkinson's Disease Foundation
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What Is Parkinson's Disease?

12/02/2013 03:36 PM EST

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Understanding Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing: Look Before Leaping

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Source: Parkinson's Disease Foundation
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Parkinson's Disease

Table of Contents

Parkinson’s disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disease, the second most prevalent such disorder after Alzheimer’s disease. It is a slowly progressive disease caused by the death of small clusters of cells in the midbrain that results in reduction of a critical neurotransmitter called dopamine, the chemical messenger responsible for coordinated muscle movement. While research shows that genetic factors play a significant role in one type of Parkinson’s called early-onset in which symptoms begin before the age of 50, genetic predisposition is not considered a contributing factor when symptoms develop later in life. NIEHS-funded researchers have identified 12 susceptibility genes that may make some people more likely to develop Parkinson’s later in life. Other researchers are testing the hypothesis that Parkinson’s may be triggered by contact with pesticides and other chemical pollutants.

What NIEHS is Doing on Parkinson's Disease

• Exploring the haunting legacy – benomyl and Parkinson’s
• Understanding individual susceptibility to environmental toxicants
• Connecting the dots in Parkinson’s disease
• CNS program participants gather at NIEHS
• Arsenic Exposure and Motor Function among Children in Bangladesh
• Strength in Numbers: 
Three Separate Studies Link in Utero Organophosphate Pesticide Exposure and Cognitive Development
• Is Spit the Future in Diagnosis of Preclinical Parkinson's? 
• Neuroinflammation and α-Synuclein Dysfunction Potentiate Each Other, Driving Chronic Progression of Neurodegeneration in a Mouse Model of Parkinson’s Disease
• Rotenone, Paraquat, and Parkinson’s Disease
• Deciphering a Core Process in Parkinson's Disease
• NIH Study Finds Two Pesticides Associated with Parkinson's Disease
• Workshop Examines the Role of Air Pollution on Neural Health
• Upcoming Distinguished Lecture by Maiken Nedergaard
• Novel Regulation of Parkin Function through c-Abl-Mediated Tyrosine Phosphorylation: Implications for Parkinson's Disease 
• Association of Cumulative Lead Exposure with Parkinson’s Disease
• Depression and the Subsequent Risk of Parkinson's Disease in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study 
• Well-Water Consumption and Parkinson’s Disease in Rural California
• Reproductive Factors, Exogenous Estrogen Use, and Risk of Parkinson's Disease 
• Dopamine Transporter Genetic Variants and Pesticides in Parkinson’s Disease
• Whole-Body Lifetime Occupational Lead Exposure and Risk of Parkinson’s Disease
• Early Environmental Origins of Neurodegenerative Disease in Later Life
• Neurodegenerative Diseases: An Overview of Environmental Risk Factors
• Pesticides and Parkinson Disease
• Silent Latency Periods in Methylmercury Poisoning and in Neurodegenerative Disease
• Aging & Neuroepidemiology
• Centers for Neurodegeneration Science
• Ion Channel Physiology Group
• Parkinson's, Genes & Environment (PAGE)
• Testing Status: L-Dopa M940125 

General Information

• Parkinson's Disease 
• Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms: Candidate Gene 
• Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms: Susceptibility 
• Talking to Your Doctor - Resources from NIH 
• The Role of the Environment in Parkinson's Disease  (1MB)

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