Pesticides Raise Risk of ALS and Potentially Alzheimer's Disease

Pesticides Raise Risk of ALS and Potentially Alzheimer’s Disease
Name
Institution
Date
Pesticides Raise Risk of ALS and Potentially Alzheimer’s Disease
Gene and environment are believed to contribute to late-life neurodegenerative diseases. Epidemiological studies reveal that chronic diseases come from environmental exposure as compared to genetic. This explains why several research studies focus on assessing these exposures.
Recently, neurological researchers reported great progress revealing that people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis have high levels of toxicants, mostly man made in their blood system. This situation occurs due to high levels of toxicants from pesticides (Alzforum Networking for a Cure, 2016). It’s not easy to establish clearly which environmental toxicants cause ALS, but expanded studies reveal that there is some relationship of certain chemicals to ALS.
Notably, a research by the University of North Carolina found a set of new fungicides that affect the mitochondria. The research shows some nuclear gene expression related to those seen in patients with Alzheimer disease, autism, and Huntington. This is possible due to the frequent use of fungicides in the recent decades (Alzforum Networking for a Cure, 2016).
Other epidemiological studies identified the association between ALS and exposure to pesticides, industrial solvents, and heavy metals, however, specific studies conducted among military servicemen during the 1991 Gulf War revealed some correlation of toxic chemicals and increased risk for ALS. However, other expanded studies reveal certain occupations or behavior did not increase the risk of ALS (Alzforum Networking for a Cure, 2016).
Chemicals like polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides and polybrominated diphenyl ethers are associated with an increased risk of ALS; however, cis-chlordane has a higher risk as compared to others (Alzforum Networking for a Cure, 2016). As noted by Alzforum Networking for a Cure, (2016), some research findings are not effective because a small subgroup generated positive results. That is why further research needs to use different exposures and larger samples to generate acc...