Nebraska State Parkinson's Disease Registry

Supports Studies of Environmental Risk in Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) occurs in Nebraskans and our northern plains neighbors about two times as high as in the rest of the country, and there is considerable evidence that our rural-based lifestyles play a role in our increased risk. The Creighton University Department of Neurology is currently involved in several studies investigating the relationship between our region's environment and Parkinson's disease.

Names of potential participants in these studies are being drawn from the Nebraska State Parkinson's Disease Registry. The Registry is a list of names and addresses of Nebraskans who have been reported by the physician who diagnosed their PD and/or the pharmacist who provides their PD medications. The list is maintained by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (NEHHS) in Lincoln. Names on this list are kept strictly confidential, and are available only to approved researchers who fulfill the requirements of their institution's review boards and those of the NEHHS. This Registry, the only one of its kind in the entire nation, provides the most efficient and accurate means for collecting information that makes possible the evaluation of patterns of patient care, the planning of resource allocation, and assisting efforts toward a cure for PD.

The first of these studies is a three-year project to determine the relationship between PD and farm risk factors. Participants undergo a phone interview assessing farm and non-farm exposure to pesticides, occupational exposure to other agents, medical history, genetic syndromes and familial clustering, and tobacco and alcohol use. To assure that every participant in the study does in fact have PD, consent is obtained to review pertinent medical records and, wherever possible, conduct an examination to confirm the diagnosis of PD. About 300 individuals with PD, plus 600 control subjects are hoped to be enrolled by the study's end in the fall of 2002.

The second study examines the roles that soil and well water composition may play in PD risk. Preliminary data gathered by our colleagues at the University of Nebraska at Kearney suggest that prolonged exposure to some metals might increase a person's chance of getting PD. The current study measures levels of manganese, iron, and zinc in soil and well-water samples of PD patients identified above. By the end of this study in the winter of 2002, samples will have been collected from 80 pairs of matched residential sites from which PD patients and controls obtained drinking water for a minimum of ten years prior to their diagnosis of PD. These data ultimately will help us to clarify the exposure routes by which heavy metals modify PD risk, and to understand what specific risk factors are relevant to Nebraskans.

We are very grateful to all of the participants for their gracious contribution to these studies. If you would like more information on the Nebraska State Parkinson's Disease Registry or either research study, you are welcome to contact Pamela Sprenkle, PhD, in the Department of Neurology at (402) 280-4389 or sprenkle@creighton.edu.