Allergies Linked to Parkinson's Disease

Ivanhoe Newswire
Wednesday, August 9, 2006; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A lifetime of stuffy noses and sneezing may mean something other than just spending more than the average person on Kleenex. A new study reveals men and women with nasal allergies are more likely to develop Parkinson's disease.

The problem is not specifically the allergies, but the inflammation response to allergens, theorize researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Their study reveals people with allergic rhinitis, or nasal allergies, are almost three-times more likely to suffer from Parkinson's disease than people who do not.

The researchers wanted to know the connection between inflammatory diseases and Parkinson's disease. Despite the connection to allergic rhinitis, they did not find a similar link between Parkinson's and other inflammatory diseases like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, pernicious anemia, or vitiligo.

Parkinson's disease affects cells in the brain that control muscle movement. Trembling, muscle rigidity, difficulty walking, and problems with balance and coordination are some of the common effects of the disease.

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SOURCE: Neurology, 2006,67:497-499