Risk and protective factors for Parkinson's disease: A study in Swedish twins

Many studies have shown a protective effect of cigarette smoking on Parkinson's disease. However, criticism has been raised concerning confounding by genetic factors. We investigated the associations between Parkinson's disease and smoking, alcohol, coffee, area of living, and education in a co‐twin control study. Because twins are matched for genetic and familial environmental factors, this design controls for confounding by these factors. We also examined control subjects unrelated to cases. Exposure information was taken from questionnaires answered in the 1960s and 1970s. Parkinson's disease cases were identified through the Swedish Inpatient Discharge Register (IDR) and the Cause of Death Register. In the unrelated control subject comparison, 476 Parkinson's disease cases and 2,380 control subjects were included. In the co‐twin control comparison, 415 same‐sex twin pairs were included. There was an inverse association between smoking and Parkinson's disease using unrelated control subjects and co‐twin control cases. There was no association between Parkinson's disease and alcohol, coffee, or area of living. High educational level was associated with Parkinson's disease in the unrelated control subject comparison but not in the co‐twin control comparison. We confirm the protective effect of smoking on Parkinson's disease and establish that the association is only partially explained by genetic and familial environmental factors. Ann Neurol 2004

[1]  J C Rothwell,et al.  Physiology and Anatomy of Possible Oscillators in the Central Nervous System , 2008, Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society.

[2]  N. Pedersen,et al.  No evidence for heritability of Parkinson disease in Swedish twins , 2004, Neurology.

[3]  M. Hernán,et al.  Alcohol consumption and the incidence of Parkinson's disease , 2003, Annals of neurology.

[4]  M. Quik,et al.  Nicotine and nicotinic receptors; relevance to Parkinson's disease. , 2002, Neurotoxicology.

[5]  P. Lichtenstein,et al.  The Swedish Twin Registry: a unique resource for clinical, epidemiological and genetic studies , 2002, Journal of internal medicine.

[6]  Miguel A Hernán,et al.  A meta‐analysis of coffee drinking, cigarette smoking, and the risk of Parkinson's disease , 2002, Annals of neurology.

[7]  R. Mayeux,et al.  Smoking and Parkinson’s disease in twins , 2002, Neurology.

[8]  F. Speizer,et al.  Cigarette smoking and the incidence of Parkinson's disease in two prospective studies , 2001, Annals of neurology.

[9]  W. Willett,et al.  Prospective study of caffeine consumption and risk of Parkinson's disease in men and women , 2001, Annals of neurology.

[10]  J. Goldsmith,et al.  A Case-Control Study of Parkinson's Disease in Urban Population of Southern Israel , 2001, Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences / Journal Canadien des Sciences Neurologiques.

[11]  B. Ritz,et al.  Parkinson's disease mortality and pesticide exposure in California 1984-1994. , 2000, International journal of epidemiology.

[12]  L. Cupples,et al.  Environmental, medical, and family history risk factors for Parkinson's disease: a New England-based case control study. , 1999, American journal of medical genetics.

[13]  N. Martin,et al.  The Genetics of Smoking Persistence in Men and Women: A Multicultural Study , 1999, Behavior genetics.

[14]  P. Vieregge,et al.  Parkinson’s disease in twins , 1999, Neurology.

[15]  J W Langston,et al.  Parkinson disease in twins: an etiologic study. , 1999, JAMA.

[16]  W. Rocca,et al.  Occupation, education, and Parkinson's disease: A case‐control study in an Italian population , 1996, Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society.

[17]  D. Morens,et al.  Cigarette smoking and protection from Parkinson's disease , 1995, Neurology.

[18]  D. Morens,et al.  Prospective study of cigarette smoking and the risk of developing idiopathic Parkinson's disease. , 1994, American journal of epidemiology.

[19]  Nancy L. Pedersen,et al.  The Origins of Individual Differences in Occupational Status and Educational Level , 1992 .

[20]  C. Ward,et al.  Parkinson's disease in 65 pairs of twins and in a set of quadruplets , 1983, Neurology.

[21]  J. Gorell,et al.  Environmental Risk Factors for Parkinson's Disease , 2003 .

[22]  P. Jenner,et al.  Oxidative mechanisms in nigral cell death in Parkinson's disease. , 1998, Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society.