Down on the Farm with Parkinson's Disease

Well Water or Sick Water?
What has been learned about PD and the Amish?

Researchers conducted a genetic study of Parkinson's disease in Holmes County, Ohio. The area is rolling farm country with a population of about 41,500 in 2008 and home to 19,000 Amish. Within this large Amish community is a population where most people are related to each other. In 2000 the single largest population group were the 27.3% of German descent and 8% of Swiss lineage compared to 16.9% who were of American descent. The shocking fact is that they have one of the highest rates of Parkinson's disease in the world.

When the study results came back, subjects with PD were shown to be no more inter-related than control subjects. This suggested that the PD cases must be triggered by environmental factors which differ in the Amish community but not in the balance of the population. And it is these factors that appear to account for almost all the cases of PD in Holmes County.

The first suspect area is private water well - subject to EPA inspection which doesn't occur in Lancaster, PA - livestock waste and grazing in streams from lack of fencing. Run-off into the wells from missing caps and missing or improper application of grout at the wellhead.

Another big problem is wells that are not deep enough to get below contaminated ground water. Bad drinking water with coliform bacteria and E Coli present in the water have been observed.

Outhouses and manure runoff are serious drinking water problems if water is not boiled. Lack of electricity means no refrigeration or freezers which make it difficult to safely store foods especially during hot Ohio summers.

On the other hand pesticides and herbicides as well as fertilizers are not used very much on Amish farms. However, there is some limited use often using uncalibrated communally used sprayers.

Moreover these farms are not always isolated but rather often intermingled with "the English" there is still a ground water pesticide/herbicide potential from neighboring farms. Critical proximity is 500 meters (547 yards). We already know that exposure to paraquat, diazinon, chlorpyrifos, propargite, dimethoate and methomyl definitely increases the risk of developing PD.

Additional Reading
Hunting for the Whys of Parkinson's
National Water quality Assessment Program (NAWQA)
More Information about the Amish Community

Pesticides in Well Water Linked to Parkinson's

2011 NIH study fnds two pesticides associated with Parkinson's disease

Have You Used the Services of a Genome Scan Company?

CWRU Wants to Hear From You: not just for Parkinson's Disease Genome Scans

Located in Cleveland, Ohio - the city where engineers just moved a 5,000 ton bridge section - is Case Western Reserve University. They are conducting a survey and need input from people who have used genome scan services personally.

Steve has already done a phone interview with Marcie Lambrix at CWRU about why he enrolled in the 23andMe genome test offered for Parkinson's Disease patients. He explained what he hoped to learn and why he felt it was important to take part in having his saliza analyzed.

Marcie also asked if we would post an ad for the CWRU study and that is exactly what we are doing albeit a bit late.

We know there is some debate about the ethics of genome testing but we're not going to go there today. Nor are we going to discuss the argument that results won't be an accurate cross-section because the responders will be among the more intelligent because they are readers of things scientific or semi-scientific. We can pick that nit another day. And we're not going to go into the genome "hacker" area because we take those hacking risks every time we put information out there...although those are financial rather than the obvious uses of genome information.

The fact is that many readers are PWPs of relatives of same and there is some life and death concern here. And we think that the studies have value.

Have you used the services of 23andMe, deCODEme, and Navigenics, or Knome?
If so, we want to hear about your experiences!

Attention: Early adopters of Direct to Consumer Genome Scans,
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University want to talk with YOU!
We’re currently conducting in-depth interviews with early-adopter/consumers of such tests to learn more about an individual's decision to us Direct to Consumer genome scanning, what they understand to be the benefits and risks of this technology, both for individuals and society.

Our interview question will address how the participant learned of whole genome scanning services, why theywere interested in trying the technology, how they feel about the results that they have received, what they have done with the results, and if and how they have used the results to inform their individual healthcare decisions.

To learn more about participating in this study,
Please contact Marcie Lambrix via at by phone 216-368-8753 or via email

FYI
Just to give you an idea of what the results of this survey could look like
Flawed link to CWRU Center for Genetic Research & Law - it works but it's not pretty