Newsweek – Researchers found that those living within a mile of golf courses have 126 percent higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease than those who live more than six miles away, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Newsweek has reached out to the Parkinson’s Foundation as well as the Dr. Brittany Krzyzanowski, researcher for the study, for comment.
Why It Matters
Areas that shared drinking water supplies with water used near golf courses were the most greatly impacted, the study shows. Researchers believe this shows that the pesticides used on golf courses could contribute to the amount of Parkinson’s cases.
Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease estimated to affect about 10 million people globally, and about 1.1 million people in the United States, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation. There is no cure, but treatments are available.
What To Know
Researchers used data of golf course locations throughout the U.S., along with data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), on 224 water service areas across 27 counties in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
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Data from 711 municipal wells provided by the Minnesota Geospatial Information Office was also used to determine the correlation between proximity and prevalence of cases.
During the study, 450 incident cases from 1991 to 2015 were identified in Olmsted County, Minnesota.
“The odds of PD were relatively constant within close proximity to a golf course and decreased linearly as distance increased; individuals living farther from a golf course had reduced odds of PD, decreasing relative to the distance from the nearest golf course,” the study explained.
Previous studies have already linked chemicals found in pesticides including paraquat and rotenone to neurodegeneration, according to the study.
The disease impacts the nervous system causing symptoms such as tremors, slow movement, and rigid muscles, among others, according to the Mayo Clinic …
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