Link between Parkinson's and rhinitis revealed

People with Parkinson's disease are three times more likely than
non-sufferers to have been troubled by allergic rhinitis - an
inflammatory nasal response to pollen or other airborne particles - a
new study finds.

The results suggest that allergic diseases, such as hay fever, may be
linked to brain inflammation that hastens the onset of the
neuro-degenerative disorder, say researchers at the Mayo Clinic in
Rochester, Minnesota, US.

Previous studies have shown that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs,
such as ibuprofen, offered some protection against Parkinson's disease.
These results prompted clinical neurologist James Bower and colleagues
to investigate the links between inflammatory conditions and
Parkinson's disease.

They studied 196 people with Parkinson's disease and 196 others
matched for age and gender. A comparison of the two groups revealed
that those with Parkinson's were 2.9 times more likely to have
suffered rhinitis earlier in their lives.

"People with allergic rhinitis mount an immune response with their
allergies, so they may be more likely to mount an immune response in
the brain as well, which would produce inflammation," Bower says.
Asthma problems

"The inflammation produced may release certain chemicals in the brain
and inadvertently kill brain cells, as we see in Parkinson's," Bower
says. The debilitating condition occurs when large numbers of
dopamine-producing cells in the brain die - sufferers lose control of
voluntary muscles as a result.

The researchers did not however, find a similar link between
Parkinson's and other inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid
arthritis, lupus and pernicious anaemia. Bower speculates that these
conditions may have been too rare to produce a significant link, given
the relatively small sample size.

Bowers team discovered no association between asthma and Parkinson's
disease, which they found slightly more perplexing. But Bower notes
that not all asthma is inflammatory in nature. "I suspect we didn't
find a link between the two because some of the asthma patients were
"inflammatory" and others were not," he says.
Cause and effect

Bowers says the findings offer hope of new ways to prevent
Parkinson's in the future, although he warns a quick fix is unlikely.
We need to study this further in hopes of finding drugs that may be
protective," he says.

Other experts were more cautious about the findings. Kieran Breen,
director of research at the UK's Parkinson's Disease Society said:
"This research does not establish that allergic rhinitis is a cause
of Parkinson's. Rather, it may demonstrate that allergic rhinitis may
be one of the effects of Parkinson's.

"People who do have allergic rhinitis should not be concerned by the
findings of this study," he adds.

   * 15:45 08 August 2006
   * NewScientist.com news service
   * By Michael Day

Journal reference: Neurology (vol 67, p 494)

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9695-link-between-parkinsons-and-rhinitis-
revealed.html

Anyone heard of this before?