Exposure to Environmental Toxins May Be Root of Rise in Neurological Disorders - Dementia, More

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'Exposure to environmental toxins may be root of rise in neurological disorders,' The Guardian, Oct. 23, 2022. - Ed.

- Doctors warn exposure to omnipresent yet poorly understood chemicals such as microplastics could play a role in dementia. -

The mystery behind the astronomical rise in neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s could be caused by exposure to environmental toxins that are omnipresent yet poorly understood, leading doctors warn. At a conference on Sunday, the country’s leading neurologists & neuroscientists will highlight recent research efforts to fill the gaping scientific hole in understanding of the role environmental toxins – air pollution, pesticides, microplastics, forever chemicals and more – play in increasingly common diseases like dementias & childhood developmental disorders.

Humans may encounter a staggering 80,000 or more toxic chemicals as they work, play, sleep and learn – so many that it is almost impossible to determine their individual effects on a person, let alone how they may interact or the cumulative impacts on the nervous system over a lifespan. Some contact with environmental toxins is inevitable given the proliferation of plastics and chemical pollutants, as well as America’s hands off regulatory approach, but exposure is unequal.

In the US, communities of color, Indigenous people and low income families are far more likely to be exposed to a myriad of pollutants through unsafe housing and water, manufacturing and agricultural jobs, and proximity to roads and polluting industrial plants, among other hazards. It’s likely genetic makeup plays a role in how susceptible people are to the pathological effects of different chemicals, but research has shown higher rates of cancers and respiratory disease in environmentally burdened communities.

Very little is known about impact on brain & nervous system disorder, but there is growing consensus that genetics & ageing do not fully account for the sharp rise in previously rare diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s & ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) – a degenerative disease more likely in army veterans & neighborhoods with heavy industry. Neurologists & their surgical counterparts, neurosurgeons, will spotlight the research gap at the Amer. Neurological Association (ANA) annual meeting in Chicago. “Neurology is about 15 years behind cancer so we need to sound the alarm on this & get more people doing research because the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] is absolutely not protecting us,” said Frances Jensen, ANA president & chair of the Dept. of Neurology at the Univ. of Pennsylvania...

- More, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/23/environmental-toxins-neurological-disorders-parkinsons-alzheimers
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* Also: - 'Alzheimer's Disease: Brain Changes, Symptoms and Treatment,' Live Science, June 19, *2019. - Alzheimer's disease is an incurable brain disorder that causes plaques to grow around nerve cells, destroying them.

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive brain disorder that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior in older adults. The disorder affects an estimated 5.7 million Americans, and is the 5th-leading cause of death in people ages 65 and older, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Alzheimer's disease is often used as a synonym for dementia, which is a devastating loss of memory and cognitive function in older people, said Dr. Brad Hyman, a neurologist & director of the Massachusetts Disease Research Center at Mass. General Hospital in Boston.

- Dementia is an umbrella term for impaired memory thinking skills, and Alzheimer's is a specific form of dementia. Alzheimer's disease is responsible for 50-70% of all dementia cases, according to Alzheimers.net...https://www.livescience.com/65748-alzheimers-disease.html