Duration of Smoking, Not Intensity, Associated With Reduced Parkinson's Risk
Allison Gandey
March 12, 2010 ? Investigators studying the association between smoking and the reduced risk for Parkinson's disease (PD) have found that the relationship seems to hinge more on the duration of smoking than the amount smoked.
Previous studies have long suggested that smokers are only half as likely as those who have never smoked to develop PD. To evaluate this puzzling relationship, researchers studied the effects of duration and intensity of smoking independently, rather than combined, and report that years of smoking are more important than intensity to explain the smoking and Parkinson's link.
The finding "argues against the clinical usefulness of tobacco chemicals in the treatment of Parkinson?s disease," the researchers, with lead investigator Honglei Chen, MD, PhD, from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, conclude.
"I just want to make very clear that smoking has numerous adverse health effects, and from a public health perspective, no one should advocate smoking to prevent Parkinson?s disease," Dr. Chen told Medscape Neurology.
Still, the study authors conclude, "research to reveal the underlying chemicals and mechanisms are warranted."
No one should advocate smoking to prevent Parkinson?s disease.
The work is published in the March 16 issue of Neurology and was released early online.
In an accompanying editorial, Beate Ritz, MD, and Shannon Rhodes, PhD, from the University of California at Los Angeles, applaud the researchers' creative approach of studying duration of smoking separately from the number of cigarettes.
Allison Gandey
March 12, 2010 ? Investigators studying the association between smoking and the reduced risk for Parkinson's disease (PD) have found that the relationship seems to hinge more on the duration of smoking than the amount smoked.
Previous studies have long suggested that smokers are only half as likely as those who have never smoked to develop PD. To evaluate this puzzling relationship, researchers studied the effects of duration and intensity of smoking independently, rather than combined, and report that years of smoking are more important than intensity to explain the smoking and Parkinson's link.
The finding "argues against the clinical usefulness of tobacco chemicals in the treatment of Parkinson?s disease," the researchers, with lead investigator Honglei Chen, MD, PhD, from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, conclude.
"I just want to make very clear that smoking has numerous adverse health effects, and from a public health perspective, no one should advocate smoking to prevent Parkinson?s disease," Dr. Chen told Medscape Neurology.
Still, the study authors conclude, "research to reveal the underlying chemicals and mechanisms are warranted."
No one should advocate smoking to prevent Parkinson?s disease.
The work is published in the March 16 issue of Neurology and was released early online.
In an accompanying editorial, Beate Ritz, MD, and Shannon Rhodes, PhD, from the University of California at Los Angeles, applaud the researchers' creative approach of studying duration of smoking separately from the number of cigarettes.
