Parkinson's + Smoking

[Revenged]

Does anyone know why smokers have a lower incidence of Parkinson's disease than non-smokers?

 

I can't find any definitive answers online,

 

Thanks

[ghstofmaxwll]

Which study did you get this from?

 

Dont get me wrong, I think the dangers of smoking are sensationalized. The deaths from smoking dont seem to be as many as we are told to believe. benefits may be overlooked in between the antismoking ranting.

[Revenged]

Which study did you get this from?

 

I was told it during a uni lecture...

 

but I'm not sure why nicotine (or carbon monoxide?) will have this effect...

 

 

 

edit: i've found a study...

 

' Initial Award Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of a few conditions in which cigarette smoking appears to decrease the risk of developing the disease, with a reduced risk of 50% among ever smokers compared to never smokers. '

 

http://www.trdrp.org/research/PageGrant.asp?grant_id=1613

[ghstofmaxwll]

I may print that out and show it to my Nan.

[ecoli]

Which study did you get this from?

 

Dont get me wrong, I think the dangers of smoking are sensationalized. The deaths from smoking dont seem to be as many as we are told to believe. benefits may be overlooked in between the antismoking ranting.

more importantly, where did you get that from?

[ghstofmaxwll]

more importantly, where did you get that from?

Personal observations. Personal scepticism. Lack of long term data. Problems with isolating death from smoking from death by other means in populations.

[Glider]

The problem is that people are confusing terminology. Smoking and nicotine are different things. Smoking is harmful. However, nicotine (aside from being one of the most lethal substances known) has been shown to have some neurological benefits. Research is ongoing, but there have been some promising results.

 

However, as I said, smoking is harmful. It doesn't matter how beneficial nicotine may be shown to be, its benefits will always be outweighed by the damage done by smoking. One doesn't need to smoke to self-administer nicotine, but nicotine is an extremely addictive substance nonetheless.

[Revenged]

ok... i'll rephrase the question...

 

does anyone one know why nicotine causes reduced incidence of parkinson's?

 

cuz i don't get it... all i know is that atropine (muscarinic antagonist) is used to treat the resting tremor... but parkinson's caused by the death of dopaminergic neurones... so how could intake of nicotine prevent that??

[Glider]

Nicotine has a strong neuroprotective effect and inhibits the loss of dopaminergic neurons (see here). As psychoactive drugs, with effects in the reward centres of the brain, nicotine and caffine also increase the release of dopamine (see here, which can further help control the symptoms of Parkinson's and Parkinsonian syndromes.

 

If you google 'Neruprotective effects of nicotine' you will get lots of information on it. There is also research into the benefits of nicotine in the treatment (slowing the progression) of Alzheimer's.

[Revenged]

thanks glider... re. alzheimers... i'm don't think nicotine has a major effect on alzheimers... as for nicotine as a treatment.... we already have acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (inhibition of the enzyme that breaks down ACh increases ACh levels in synapses)... they do have some effect but i don't think that NICE fund these drugs in the UK...

[Glider]

I'm not sure about the nature of the effect of nicotine on Alzheimer's, but I remember seeing some research recently that indicated it helped slow the progression. I can't rememeber the source though.

[tvp45]

I was told it during a uni lecture...

 

but I'm not sure why nicotine (or carbon monoxide?) will have this effect...

 

 

 

edit: i've found a study...

 

' Initial Award Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of a few conditions in which cigarette smoking appears to decrease the risk of developing the disease, with a reduced risk of 50% among ever smokers compared to never smokers. '

 

http://www.trdrp.org/research/PageGrant.asp?grant_id=1613

 

Reports like this are often "teasers" to attract additional funding, i.e., this certainly looks promising if only we could get another $20 million. If you read the report, you'll see they did a pooled analysis and did raise concerns about sample size.

[zule]

It has been shown that so smokers as ex-smokers have increased amounts of the enzyme PKA. As the activation of this enzyme drives to production of dopamine, this would be at least one of the causes of the neuroprotective effect of nicotine against Parkinson Disease.

[Psyber]

Nicotine withdrawal induces mild Parkinson-like symptoms of stiffness and rigidity in muscles. Nicotine has a similar muscle relaxing effect to that of some of the older anti-Parkinson medications like benztropine and benzhexol.