by Dr. Mercola

U.S. researchers have found that people who used two types of pesticides were 2.5 times as likely to develop Parkinson’s disease. The pesticides in question are paraquat and rotenone, which are not approved for house and garden use. Research on animals had already linked paraquat to Parkinson’s.

According to Yahoo News: “Rotenone directly inhibits the function of the mitochondria, the structure responsible for making energy in the cell … Paraquat increases production of certain oxygen derivatives that may harm cellular structures. People who used these pesticides or others with a similar mechanism of action were more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease.”

Big Pharma’s so-called solution to Parkinson’s disease is not very comforting either. Didier Jambart is now suing drug maker GlaxoSmithKline, alleging that Requip, a drug he took to treat his Parkinson’s symptoms, turned him into a gambling, sex addict.

Requip is a “dopamine agonist” intended to relieve motor symptoms such as shaking, stiffness, and slowness by activating dopamine receptors. However, there are reports of people developing side effects from the drugs such as hypersexuality, gambling and excessive shopping.

According to ABC News:

“Up to 17 percent of people with Parkinson’s disease who take dopamine agonists exhibit an impulse control disorder, according to a 2010 study published in the Archives of Neurology.”

Sources:
Yahoo News February 11, 2011
ABC News February 2, 2011
Archives of Neurology July 2006; 63(7): 969–973

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

Neurotoxins like pesticides, herbicides and fungicides are substances that have been shown to cause disruptions to the neurological system, including your brain. Why neurotoxins still enjoy widespread use on our fresh food supply is really more about the bottom line for farming operations than it is about the science of human health.

Because in terms of human health, pesticides, herbicides and all neurotoxins are a man-made disaster. And the treatment of the diseases they cause are in some cases hardly treatments at all.

The chlorine-based pesticides and herbicides, which are some of the most damaging to human health, have also been developed into biological weapons (nerve poisons) for warfare.

That should tell you something about these potent chemicals.

But Parkinson’s disease is still classified as idiopathic, meaning it has no identifiable cause. It is likely on the rise due to many environmental toxins that now bombard your body on a daily basis, but recent specific research has linked a higher chance of being afflicted with Parkinson’s to pesticide exposure.

My question is, how could this disease not be linked to pesticides?

Rotenone and paraquat are two specific chemicals now linked to increased risk of Parkinson’s disease, and both are lipophilic, meaning they resist breaking down in water and accumulate in your fat. Both are also known to cross your blood-brain barrier.

Folks, once these chemicals get into your bloodstream they are a recipe for long-term disaster.

And once your dopamine producing cells in your brain begin to deteriorate from enough exposure to these disruptive chemicals, the drugs that the pharmaceutical companies will offer you have a whole host of frightening side effects.

In fact, compulsive behaviors like pathological gambling and hypersexuality are now listed as a side effect on the package inserts of the class of drugs called dopamine agonists that are designed to relieve the symptoms of Parkinson’s.

So the message is that you want to avoid exposing yourself to pesticides today which will increase your odds of getting Parkinson’s disease, and you really don’t want to face big pharma’s “treatment” for the symptoms of Parkinson’s anytime in your future.

The History of Pesticide Use

Chlorinated hydrocarbons, or organochlorines like DDT were developed after World War II and remained widely used in agriculture for pest and weed control until Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring” was published in 1962.

That book is credited with beginning the modern environmental movement, and through the involvement of scientists and ordinary concerned citizens many of the organochlorines were later phased out of use, according to the conditions of the Stockholm Convention of 1981.

Since then, the phased out organochlorines have been replaced by a slew of new herbicides, pesticides and fungicides designed to kill the things that threaten a farmer’s bottom line.

A new and frightening innovation occurred with these agricultural poisons with Monsanto’s patented Roundup weed killer, which was designed to be used in conjunction with Monsanto’s genetically modified seeds – seeds designed to grow plants that resist dying from the neurotoxins contained in Roundup.

So farmers using Monsanto seeds can now essentially double, triple or quadruple the amount of pesticide they normally dump on crops without killing it. The increased pesticide residue, however, remains on the foods that wind up on your dinner table.

About 90 percent of the corn produced in the US is genetically modified and produced by Monsanto. And their soybeans account for almost 95 percent of production. In other words, if you’re eating non-organic corn or soybeans in the United States, you’re eating Monsanto corn that’s been repeatedly and thoroughly drenched in Roundup.

The danger to you is very real, but even more frightening is the danger you are exposing your children and their children to, according to the latest research.

And another problem — rather than banishing the weeds, Roundup and the other neurological poisons we dump on our food supply merely creates newer, stronger versions of the weeds. And these new super weeds require even stronger poisons to kill them.

Below I will give you the best strategies to avoid becoming another victim of this massive pesticide scam that has been dumped on us all, courtesy of Monsanto.

Bioaccumulation is the Real Problem

The problem with all these pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides doesn’t come from just one apple or carrot that may have been sprayed.

The real problem is something called bioaccumulation.

Bioaccumulation means that once these toxins are dumped onto plants and soil, they are very hard to get rid of. Each year tons and tons of these poisons are sprayed on farms, which then run off through the soil into streams and rivers, and eventually these poisons end up in lakes or underground aquifers.

These aquifers and lakes feed our water supplies, and some drain into other rivers that reach our oceans.

The damage from this continual and massive toxic runoff is very hard to undo. This genie is particularly hard to put back into the proverbial bottle.

Bioaccumulation Also Happens Inside You

These man-made neurotoxic chemicals also bioaccumulate in the human body, as they resist breaking down in water and also accumulate and store in fat, where they can remain for long periods of time.

In short, this means your body has a very hard time getting rid of them once they enter it. The link to Parkinson’s disease is no doubt caused by a bioaccumulation in brain cells, specifically in the neurons charged with producing dopamine.

This is why you don’t get Parkinson’s disease from eating one piece of pesticide-laden fruit. And why it is so difficult to link this and other degenerative neurological diseases to a single source or cause. It takes years of exposure to reach the disease state, although exposure to massive amounts of these chemicals will produce something called rapid onset Parkinson’s, which is another powerful clue to the true nature of these neurotoxins.

You see, once enough of these toxic chemicals get into a cell, they disrupt its function. Rotenone inhibits mitochondrial function, while Paraquat increases production of oxygen derivatives.

In other words, once enough of these chemicals get into your blood stream, they deposit in the fat inside your brain and begin causing brain damage.

Are Decades of Accumulated Pesticides Now Killing Honeybees?

Scientists are baffled by the sudden massive death of North American honeybees, but two things about this strange die-off are absolutely certain:

• Honeybees are dying in numbers that could soon threaten the continued existence of bee-assisted plant pollination in America
• Something is responsible for killing these bees

Could it be that the bees are bioaccumulating pesticides like rotenone and paraquat in their brains, which are now abundant in soil and water, and have built up sufficient levels of these neurotoxins to produce a diseased state much like Parkinson’s?

After all, one of the strange effects of the bee die-off appears to be bees can no longer find their hive, and stagger around in a confused, lost state until they die.

Parkinson’s Drugs May Make You Worse

The dopamine agonists currently used to treat Parkinson’s appear to curb some of the side effects of the disease, but at what cost? Dopamine agonist’s labels now include the warning that they may lead to some strange and disturbing side effects, including:

So you probably want to avoid putting yourself in a position where you will have to take a dopamine agonist drug if you want to avoid these possible side effects.

How You Can Avoid These Pesticides and Herbicides

First and foremost, to limit your exposure to the most common pesticides, herbicides and fungicides, you want to buy as much fresh organic produce as possible, as synthetic chemicals are not allowed on organic crops. For a good guide to vegetables and buying organic, see this previous article.

Since years’ worth of these toxins now pollute our soils and waterways, including the sources of most if not all human drinking water, you also want to invest in a good water filtration system for your home or apartment to ensure you are drinking the purest water possible.

Also consider a shower filter, because once these toxins found in your tap water are heated and become airborne in your shower, they cause more damage to your body through your skin and lungs than from drinking unfiltered water.

You also want to consider supplementing with omega 3, which is one of the supplements I recommend for just about everyone, because this is what is going to protect you at the cellular from the damage associated with environmental toxins.

Copyright Dr. Joseph Mercola, 2011. All Rights Reserved.

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