Pesticides to blame for wave of Parkinson's in Israeli Arab town
Baqa al-Gharbiyeh has 73.39 cases of Parkinson's per 100,000 residents; residents regularly exposed to pesticides.
By Dan Even Tags: Israel newsIsraeli researchers say the unusual frequency of Parkinson's disease in Baqa al-Gharbiyeh is linked to pesticides sprayed in nearby fields.
The researchers from Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva, Ben-Gurion University, the Clalit HMO and the Hillel Yaffeh Medical Center examined the prevalence of Parkinson's disease in the communities in Wadi Ara in the north.
Compared to the relatively low incidence of the disease in Umm al-Fahm, with 34.84 cases per 100,000 residents, and even fewer in Kafr Qara, 25.45 per 100,000, as well as Ara and Arara, 18.45 per 100,000, Baqa al-Gharbiyeh stands out. That city has 73.39 cases per 100,000 residents.
The numbers were taken from family physicians with patients treated with medication aimed at Parkinson's disease, and from Hillel Yaffeh for patients being treated for mobility problems.
Since Wadi Ara's residents are mostly Arab Israelis of similar genetic origin and lifestyles, the researchers say the high incidence of Parkinson's disease in Baqa al-Gharbiyeh is linked to high exposure to pesticides.
"Baqa is surrounded by many fields, and its residents are regularly exposed to pesticides that are dumped by small aircraft," say the researchers.
Earlier research has shown a link between exposure to pesticides and Parkinson's, but the researchers say no specific substance in pesticides has been proved to cause the disease directly.
The research is being published this month in the Israel Medical Association Journal.
Dr. Rafik Masalha, head of the epilepsy clinic at Soroka, says that "in Baqa there is higher exposure to industrial agriculture, which includes the use of pesticides, and there are many more farmers compared to other communities in Wadi Ara, whose livelihood is more based on urban work or construction. It was proved that pesticides inhaled can affect the brain stem, which is responsible for the production of dopamine."
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, and dopamine deficiency causes Parkinson's, a degenerative disease that affects motor skills and speech.
Masalha says people can be exposed to pesticides by drinking contaminated water.
Last summer, UCLA researchers said they documented a rise in Parkinson's in a valley in California where residents were exposed to water wells polluted by pesticides.
In any case, the Health Ministry says that in recent years it has not noted any unusual concentrations of pesticides in Baqa al-Gharbiyeh's drinking water.
"The community has for many years been drinking water from the Mekorot's Metzer pool. The source of the water is the National Water Carrier, and mostly the Kinneret, and the water is not exclusively delivered to Baqa al-Gharbiyeh, but to many in the north," the statement read.
"The use of pesticides in Israel is reasonable and under supervision. Well water is examined routinely and meets the strictest standards set by the World Health Organization and the U.S. health authorities. If pollution is found in a well, it is shut down. Pollution in wells as a result of pesticides is rare in Israel."
In general, with the exception of Baqa al-Gharbiyeh, the incidence of the disease in Wadi Ara is similar to that in Arab countries, including Tunisia, with 43 cases per 100,000 residents, Libya, with 31.4 per 100,000, and Saudi Arabia, with 27 per 100,000.
The frequency, however, is lower than in some Jewish communities. Research in kibbutzim a decade ago showed a rate of 160 cases per 100,000 residents.
The Health Ministry has no national database of Parkinson's patients; the new research is the first to discuss the incidence of the disease in a specific community compared to its environs.
The researchers say their findings help show the link between pesticides in Israeli agriculture and Parkinson's, when also considering ethnic origin and environment.
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having worked in europe and israel, there are many pesticides still used here that are banned elsewhere , organophospates to name just 1,
Does Malachi 3 relate to this pesticide issue? The english translation says that pests wouldn't destroy crops if people paid their tithes, so if the Hebrew text says the same thing, then that's more important than pesticides. If the Hebrew text really does say what the English translations say, then Israel should pay G-d what they owe instead of destroying the earth with pesticides, which have so many bad effects on both humans and on nature. Learn anything from the diaspora?
We need breakdown of pesticide formulas and dna traces poisonings like ddt. That chemical compound kills mosquitos but also thins bird eggs and causes birth defects. People are being poisoned by pesticides and fertilizers not allowed in USA. Keeping the people ignorant keeps big business in the power.For example free plecebos that are supposed to cure HIV or treat AIDS using poor nations as test subjects. Later life illness and testing on live subjects is human genetic experimentation not allowed by United Nations. Watch and break down ingredients listings. We need to list the ingrediants on labels on outside like in USA. Rannkoo-Karoon
It seems you are also an expert on social medical symptoms not just political criticism , smart ass
Dear Sir, The article is important to show the environmental connection to Parkinson's. However, the quoted research work is not the first one showing this connection in Israel. Much earlier was shown that the number of Parkinson's cases might be related to pesticide contamination of drinkable water in the Negev communities. Also the claim that it is not known what kind of pesticides might cause Parkinson's is not correct. One of the pesticides linked to Parkinson's is Rotenon. Sadly, it was used, among others, to poison fish in Kinereth, and it is approved for use in Israel. As matter of fact, the actual Israeli policy of control of environmental contaminations is not good enough to prevent occurrence (and increase in frequency) of Parkinson's due to intoxication by neurotoxins present in water, food or air.
"The frequency, however, is lower than in some Jewish communities. Research in kibbutzim a decade ago showed a rate of 160 cases per 100,000 residents." So the Kibbuzniks are in-breeding as well? more than Arabs! of course not they are Jews! How do your posts still manage to get published?
Talkbacker sh is right. There is almost no supervision at all in most of Israel on many important things from pesticides and traffic violations to arms and drug smuggling by Hezbollah. Arrogant government officials and naive America worshippers wish and think Israel is a "first world" nation when it is truly a corrupt, primitive third world regime. Jews are indigenous and have the right to rule here, were here a thousand years before the Islamic conquest from Arabia, but this does not give Jews the right to keep poisoning, raping and destroying their one tiny land. Ban the use of pesticides now. This is one way in which Israel can afford to be like a Western nation.
"The use of pesticides in Israel is reasonable and under supervision" No it isn't, and everyone knows that. The only reason any limits have been imposed are because produce for export risks being rejected by (mostly European) countries that have become increasingly stringent about pesticide residues on their fruit and veg. Since you say the figures for Parkinson's are also high in the kibbutzim, just draw a line between them and Baq'a Al-Gharbiyyeh. Anyone who has lived on a kibbutz knows they have been the unwilling recipient of the occasional pesticide shower whether they knew it at the time or not. There was never any care taken over the "dumping" of pesticides on something as unimportant as a passer-by.
This topic, environmental toxins, and not global warming, is the cutting edge topic that is starting to move things behind the scenes. Israelis (outside government) who follow this agenda have a global free pass.