What Causes Parkinsons?
Dr. David Gosal, Research Registrar, Mater Hospital Explains! Currently, there is a renaissance in the field of Parkinson’s disease (PD) research. For the first time in many decades, new discoveries and treatments are making a positive impact on the lives of many people with Parkinson’s. One particular area of interest involves the actual root causes of Parkinson’s disease. Whereas, traditionally, it was thought to be a resulting end process of various noxious environmental factors upon our brains, the situation now seems more detailed than this. From research, it is now evident that PD is a complex disorder with many likely environmental and genetic factors contributing towards the development of the disease. Despite many years of detailed and painstaking research, no one single environmental causative agent has been directly implicated. Many have been at best only weakly associated with PD, such as exposure to industrial chemicals and pollutants, pesticides, heavy metals, well water.
