More than 1 million Americans suffer from Parkinson's disease. About 1 percent of people older than 65 are Parkinson's victims, suffering tremors such as facial tics and shaking hands. Advanced symptoms include a shuffling gait, speech difficulties and muscle weakness. Why Parkinson's disease strikes remains a mystery in the majority of cases. Now, scientists may be closing in on a long-standing hunch that environmental toxins trigger the disease.
Rotenone is an organic product made from extracts of tropical plants.
It is widely used as an agricultural pesticide and to kill unwanted fish in reservoirs. Pumps implanted in rats Over a period of weeks, researchers at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, gave rats continuous but low doses of Rotenone. Neurologists implanted tiny pumps in the rats to continuously administer Rotenone through the jugular vein for as long as five weeks. What happened raised eyebrows. Half the rats gradually displayed Parkinson's-like symptoms, growing slow and stiff, Greenamyre said.