Longtime smoking cuts Parkinson’s risk dramatically

[Obama 2012 1,714]

It's a catchy headline – smoking cuts Parkinson's risk dramatically – and it appears to be true, but researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Science don't want you to start smoking.

"Nobody should advocate smoking to prevent Parkinson's disease," said Dr. Honglei Chen, a tenure-track investigator at the Institute. "It’s important to make that very, very clear."

The study, released today in the journal Neurology looked at the lifetime smoking history of more than 300,000 people, and confirmed the inverse relationship between smoking and Parkinson's disease, established in earlier scientific studies. But, researchers say they've found a critical new piece to the puzzle: It appears to be the length of time one has been a smoker – not the number of cigarettes smoked – that has the most effect on disease risk reduction.

"People who smoked more than 40 years had a 46 percent decrease in Parkinson's disease risk," said Chen. "Whereas people who smoked between one and nine years had only an 8 percent decrease in risk."

Chen, the lead study author, and his colleagues cannot yet identify the reasons behind this staggering link, but say when they are able to determine which chemicals in the cigarettes seem to be have a protective effect, they hope to be able to develop a drug that can mimic the effects of smoking, without the harmful risks.

"I think the findings are very important, but it is time now for scientists to search for the active chemicals, and to understand biological mechanisms."

Smoking continues to be the leading cause of preventable death in the United States and has been linked to an increase in heart-disease risk, stroke risk, and several types of cancers.

http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03...tically/?hpt=T2

[Peikko 1,575]

It is indeed an ill wind that blows nobody any good. It would be amazing if a useful drug could be developed for people with Parkinson's from this research, or to prevent people from getting it, or whatever useful thing they want to achieve.

Edited March 11, 2010 by Madame Cleo

[Nina~ 431]

It is indeed an ill wind that blows nobody any good. It would be amazing if a useful drug could be developed for people with Parkinson's from this research, or to prevent people from getting it, or whatever useful thing they want to achieve.

... without having people smell like an ashtray

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Driving while intoxicated reduces your chances of sustaining serious injuries due to the fact that your body will not tense up at the point of impact, but I wouldn't advocate driving while intoxicated for the other more obvious health risks and consequences.

[Nagishkaw 510]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll be sure to quit .