Whooping cough and Parkinson's disease.
Background. We reported high levodopa use and prevalences of Parkinson's Disease (PD) in periodically, time-clustered, Icelandic cohorts born after major whooping cough epidemics (MWCE). Methods. In order to quantify a possible relationship between age at first post-birth MWCE and risk of PD we...
Published in: | International Journal of Epidemiology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
1996
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/11392/1732131 https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/25.6.1301 |
Summary: | Background. We reported high levodopa use and prevalences of Parkinson's Disease (PD) in periodically, time-clustered, Icelandic cohorts born after major whooping cough epidemics (MWCE). Methods. In order to quantify a possible relationship between age at first post-birth MWCE and risk of PD we: 1) calcu- lated cumulative incidences of PD during the period 1954-1963 in one-year Icelandic cohorts born between 1869 and 1927, using raw material from a reported survey; 2) identified MWCE from 1869 onwards in Iceland; 3) estimated cohort ages at onset of incidence period and at first MWCE; and 4) combined the above-mentioned information using log-linear models. In addition, we studied the prevalence of levodopa users in Icelandic birth cohorts during a recent period. Results. The curves of the above-mentioned incidences and prevalences in one-year birth-cohorts showed: 1) a similar, age-related, inverted V profile; and 2) a systematic notchy pattern, with peak values for one or both measurements for cohorts born during or after each of nine MWCE identified during the period 1869-1927. When 13 cohorts born in years with MWCE were excluded from the analysis, the risk of PD rose with age at first defined MWCE, with the linear increase being 8.4% per year (95% Cl : -0.1-18.3%). Conclusions. These results are consistent with reported effects of age at exposure in animal models of toxic parkin- sonism, age-related changes in the dopamine receptor-GPT-binding protein-adenylatecyclase system observed in rats treated with pertussis toxin, and some PD epidemiological features. They suggest that pertussis neurotoxicity could be causally related to PD worldwide. |
---|